Some of you may remember Faith's Fifteen Minute Dress... well, next up is Faith's Twenty Minute Dress. I made this particular one as a beach cover up, but you could make it a bit longer and wear it as a regular dress. Below are detailed instructions.
Some notes: I recommend a stretch fabric - I used a printed jersey. I prefer my hems raw when I'm using jersey, but feel free to hem the raw edges once you've finished constructing the garment.
Okay, here goes....
Need another sewing project? Check out my tutorial store, Sewing Fixation, for more fabulous sewing tutorials for all skill levels. Automatic downloads mean that you will be up and running in minutes.
*Update: If you liked this tutorial, you might like my new 25 Minute Dress even more... check it out!
xo,
Faith
{Design Fixation}
46 comments:
Love the dress. For a larger size would you use more fabric? Would love to try this one with me and my sisters/girlfriends. Thanks for the great idea.
Thanks! The elastic aspect of the dress makes the sizing very forgivable, but yes for a larger size a couple of inches could be added to each measurement.
Found this through Pinterest, and LOVE IT! Thinking to make one, but I am trying to figure out measurements as well...
In your "15 minute dress" video, you talked about cutting your "rectangle" based upon the distance across your hips + 6 inches -- did you measure this one the same way?
Thanks!!
I did, I think that is a good rule of thumb. The measurements are not an exact science, luckily, thanks to the stretch in the fabric. As long as you have a bit of extra width when you hold it up to your waist, you should be fine.
But feel free to email me if you have any trouble! faithtowers@gmail.com
Happy sewing!
Great tutorial and a beautiful dress. I love its simplicity and clean lines but a short length and defined waist are not a great look for me. How do you think it would work with a mid-calf length and placing the elastic as an empire waist?
I think it would look great Robin, that's the nice thing about this style... it's very customizable. Just add 12" or so onto the length (depending on how tall you are) and you'll have a tea length dress!
I see a whole summer wardrobe in my near future and will cost less than a day of shopping to buy it. Thanks to my stash of fabric I am doing a happy dance. Saving money like crazy here. Thanks for great tut. Take care.
Linda
Thanks Linda! I know, making your own clothes can be a great way to save money :)
Perfect, and it just so happens I've already got a trip to the garment district in Tel Aviv planned for tomorrow (dozens of fabric stores in one place - bliss!).
Thanks Faith, I'm delighted to have discovered your blog.
Ooh I'm so jealous, that sounds amazing Robin.... Have fun!
Where do you find your jersey fabric in print? I have a hard time finding it. Thanks!
I bought my printed jersey at Sewfisticated in Somerville, MA... there are a couple of locations throughout Massachusetts if you're in the area. If not, Etsy might be a good place to check. This seller has a few: http://www.etsy.com/shop/FABULACE
www.fabric.com is an amazing site for all kinds of fabrics! I order almost all of my fabrics from there. I'm excited to try this pattern. Thank you for sharing!
Cool, thanks for the great resource!
So happy to have stumbled on this on Pinterest! I can't wait to try it out, thank you so much!
The Chapstick Wrangler
www.chapstickwrangler.blogspot.com
Love this dress but need a little more information about the elastic casing. How do I make the casing? Thank You
I am going to try making this dress this week, but I have a couple of questions. How did you arrive at the 9" measurement for the front panels? Will I need to adjust these depending upon my size? Also, I am guessing 1/2" wide elastic and a 1" strip to create the channel for the elastic. Is that correct? Thank you!
Thoughts from South Carolina: the casing is really just a thin strip of the same fabric that you're using for the rest of the dress. You will put a seam along both edges of the strip to attach it to the inside of the garment. This provides a spot to slide the elastic through. Step Two illustrates this point.
Samlam: here is a good way to arrive at the correct measurements for your body... measure from one arm pit to the other and add 2 inches. Then divide that number by 2, and that will be the measurement of each front panel. But the nice thing about this dress is that the measurements do not have to be exact since there is elastic involved. As long as the back panel is a couple of inches wider than the two front panels combined, you should be fine.
Thanx for the tip! I actually decided to just wing it and made my dress this morning. It is adorable, if I do say so, myself :) It took me a little more than 20 minutes (I did a lot fo trying on and pinning, because I a bit of a nervous Nellie), but far less time than any other dress I have made, so it's a winner in my book. I made mine knee-length (accidentally. I am not very tall), and it is perfect. Wearing it to lunch with my girlfriends tomorrow.
Great, I'm so glad it came out well!
It's been holidays here so it took me a while to get a chance but I finally made my dress tonight - tea length in a very cool gray, black and white geometric print. I'm still a real beginner so it took a bit longer than 20 minutes but I'm delighted with how it turned out and will probably wear it to our friends' (Israeli) Independence Day barbecue this week :). I did hem it (mainly to correct the length and even out where I'd missed a bit in my cutting to measure) and had to hem the back of the neck to keep it from rolling, but it still went together really easily and fairly quickly, even for a real novice like me.
Thanks so much for a great tutorial and really fun new dress!
That's great Robin, I'm happy it was a success! Yes, I find that every type of fabric behaves differently... glad you were able to make the proper adjustments.
Enjoy your new dress!
I really like! It's pretty :)
Sofia
www.lovalafashion.blogspot.com.au (check it out)
I wanted to tell you ~ I think I have made 5 variations of this dress since I discovered it, and I adore them all. What I love most is that it is as easy to wear as it is to make. I have made some longer, some shorter (one is a blouse), some with a higher wasitband, etc. I would love to blog about this (I think only a handful of people read my blog) and would like to link back to this, if that's okay with you. That's again for the fabulous tutorial ~ I just cannot get enough of this cute little dress :)
I'm so happy that you've had such success with this pattern. And yes, feel free to link back to the post... and send me pics of the dresses if you have any! Would love to see your variations!
Okay, here's my post about my experience making this dress. It includes pics of all of the variations I have made.
http://samiam-i-digress.blogspot.com/2012/05/shes-sew-crazy.html
I finished mine! (http://thestitchnovice.blogspot.com/2012/07/fo-my-20-minute-or-2-hour-dress.html)
Thanks for the great idea & pattern! I love it.
-Anna
www.thestitchnovice.blogspot.com
Looks great, Anna - thanks for sharing the link!
Hi, i have just discovered you blog and love looking through your old posts. I was wondering if there was an easy way to find other projects and tutorials that you have done in the past or posted links to? Thanks :)
I think the easiest thing to do to find past tutorials would be to use the Google search bar that is on the right hand side of the blog. Type in "tutorial" or "diy" and that should bring up quite a few of my past projects.
Thanks for your interest!
I made this dress the other day and your tutorial was super easy to follow! I linked to your tutorial in this (http://sonjaleigh1.blogspot.com/2012/07/dresses.html) blog post, which includes my picture of the dress.
I also made a shorter shirt version of it as well. http://sonjaleigh1.blogspot.com/2012/07/skull-shirt.html
Thanks for the awesome tutorial!
Thanks for sharing, glad you enjoyed the tutorial!
I love this tutorial! I just have one question:
Where do you start threading the elastic through the casing? At the "inside seam" of the small panel and going toward the outside, ending at the inside seam of the other small panel? Do you secure both ends in the middle (near where the V of the neck will be)? or on the sides?
Exactly Katy, start from the inside seam of the front panel and thread it all the way around the back and to the other side. I would secure it at the beginning and end (which both end up being on the front of the dress). Then once you sew the front seam down the middle, both ends will be permanently secured. Good luck!
Thanks for the tutorial! I made a tunic-length version and just used elastic thread at the waistline instead of making a casing. I linked to your tutorial in my blog post about it!
http://bethbeingcrafty.blogspot.com/2012/11/womens-tops.html
Your top looks really great Beth, thanks for sharing!
Thank you for posting this tutorial! Easy to follow and came out GREAT! Can I send you a picture somehow? I'd love to show ya! Thanks again!! :)
Hi Angela C - Yes, definitely... I would LOVE to see a photo of your finished dress! Send it over to faithtowers@gmail.com Thanks!
Casual dress makes people relaxing, comfortable.
has anyone tried to make this out of non-stretch cotton? is there any adjustments that need to be made to make this out of a non-stretchy material?
Thanks
Hi Anonymous - I haven't tried making it with non-stretch cotton yet, but I would think that it would work just fine. The only comment I would make is to be prepared for it to be a bit bulkier than the thin stretch fabric. But I think it could be really cute! Let me know how it goes.
I juts adore your creative ideas!!! I am making a little sleeper using this patern. I am using the fabric from an old soft bed sheet and some lace. :)
Thanks Bren H! And what a great idea!
Love this dress - the style, colors everything! Unfortunately, I am completely incapable of producing anything involving needles and fabric that could be worn in public (or at all!). Do you sell this dress by any chance?
Hi Cattie - Unfortunately I don't sell this one (it would be a difficult one to make without fitting it to the person wearing it)... but I do sell my 15 Minute Dress: https://www.etsy.com/listing/113667927/custom-convertible-dress-faiths-15?ref=shop_home_active Thanks for reading Design Fixation!
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