OK, so I've been lurking around craftster for about a year now, and I FINALLY worked up the courage to post something I've made.
Here's the front. (sorry for the weird faces. I hate pictures.)
And the back.
Comments are greatly appreciated, since this is my first post. Thanks for looking!
OK, here's a tute. Sorry, it may be rather strange and confusing, but bear with me.
So, first you need pretty thin jersey fabric, so it'll stretch enough.
Measure under your armpits, or where you want the top of the dress to start. Add an inch. Mine was about 34.
Then Measure your hips, or where you want the top part of the dress to end. Add an inch. Mine was 35.
Last, measure the from the top of your torso, where you want it to start, to your hips, where you want it to end. Add a couple of inches to this. Mine was about 21 after adding.
Next you have to cut two 5 inch wide bands of fabric, one the length of your first measurement, one the length of your second. Test these out around your torso and hips. THe one around your torso should be tight anough that it won't fall down, and the one around your hips should be fairly loose, I ended having to take a couple inches of the first measurement, but my second one stayed the same.
Then you have to measure around the biggest part of your chest and add about 2 inches. This'll be the width of the rectangle of fabric that'll be the tube top part of the dress. I think mine was 36. So my rectangle was 36 by 20. Makes sure that the length is good for you. Mine was a little bit too long because I wanted it to do that bunching thing at the bottom. Cut it out.
So you have two long 5 inch pieces of fabric, and one rectangular one. Take the short 5 inch band, fold it in half with the good sides facing in, and pin it to the long side of your rectagle. This is your top. THis can be tricky, just because your rectangle side is going to be alot longer than the band of fabric. I pinned the ends first so they matched up, and then the mid point. When you sew it on, stretch the band of fabric so that the rectangle fabric matches it. If you have a sweatshirt with a band on the neck then you can look at that to see how it's sewn on.
So then you do the exact same thing for the bottom band, and then sew up your large rectangle so you now have a long tube thing. This is your top.
For the skirt, I just made a basic circle skirt and sewed it onto the bottom band, the way you would do if it was just a skirt. There! You have a dress. All you need to do now is decide if you want straps. If you do, just make two narrow bands of fabric and sew them on to the back of your top band.
