I recently made a dress that I really love and it wasn’t too hard to make so I thought I’d make a quick tutorial for it. Its a lovely, simple dress with a lot of opportunities to add your own design flair! Describing how to make a pattern through a tutorial is difficult but luckily it has a loose fit and an elastic waistband so its not crucial that its perfect. I will do my best to convey clear instructions and I hope that you love your dress! If you don’t want to make it you can buy it here, on my Etsy. 
Materials:
- 1 3/4 yds of a 60″ wide fabric. I used a soft rayon challis, anything flowy and drapey.
- 20″ of a contrasting rayon fabric. Again, anything flowy/drapey and at least 60″ wide.
- 1 yd 1″ wide elastic.
- optional: 1/4yd elastic for straps, piping, any other sort of trim you might want.
- First, cut your pieces. Below is an illustration on how to draft your pattern. (Click to enlarge)
- On the dress piece iron a crease from notch to notch, repeat for back piece. This crease will serve as a guide for the waistband elastic.
- Sew dress pieces together at sides.
- Wrap a piece of elastic snugly around your waist to measure. Sew elastic into a loop.
- Make 4 marks on the elastic dividing it into 4 equal parts, make 4 marks on dress as well.
- Pin elastic to dress on the wrong side of fabric dividing it into 4 equal quadrants.
- Zig zag stitch elastic to dress stretching elastic as you sew.
- Now you need to finish the neckline and armholes. You have some options, I used piping on the neckline and a rolled hem to finish the arm holes. This is a place where your creativity can come into play.
- Attach straps. To keep the boatneck effect I made my straps 6″, if you make them longer you are going to get a more drapey, slouchy neckline.
- Cut your contrasting fabric into 2 10″x60″ rectangles to make your ruffle pieces. Join pieces in a circle.
- The contrasting fabric is going to be gathered and sewn onto the hem of the dress piece. To do this, make 2 parallel rows of long stitches (3mm). Mark 4 equal sections on ruffle piece, make marks on bottom of dress.
- Pin the pieces together at 4 quadrants and pull bobbin strings to create ruffles and distribute them evenly.
- Sew the pieces together.
- Hem! Trim excess threads…and you’re done!!!!
- Wear with happiness!
