DIY Tank Dress

A few weeks ago when I got my sewing machine, I went through my closet and put everything that I haven't worn in the last year in a box. It's my refashioning stash and whenever I need something to do, I look through and find clothing to redo. This evening while Chase slaved away on a giant religion paper, I looked in my box and decided to make a tank-top dress. I had a sundress I bought on sale at least four years ago and a semi-stretched out tank top. 

The lining was ripping out on the tank top, so it definitely was ready for a refashioning.

 I cut the dress and tank top apart. While looking at this picture I just now noticed how unevenly I cut the dress. Oops. I promise it will look better if you cut it straight. So don't follow my example on this part. I ended up cutting about six more inches off the tank top to make the waist of the dress higher.
 The front part of the dress had elastic in it already, but the back didn't, so I put the sewing machine on the largest stitch possible and sewed one long line. I grabbed ahold of one side of the thread and pulled it to gather the skirt.
 Turn the skirt inside out, and put the tank top inside. The tank top is right-side out, it's just upside down inside the skirt. I started by pinning the two side seams together, then pinned the rest around to make sure it stayed even.
 I sewed the tank top and the skirt together around...
 ...and tried it on to find out that it was pretty uneven.
 Blegh. Luckily, this problem is easily fixed. I cut some of the lining out of the dress and sewed it together to make a sash. After I turned it right side out, I ironed it flat.
 And it covered it nicely!
Sorry for the myspace picture. I never realized how hard it
 is to get the self-timer to take a full-body picture!
 The back of the dress.
 And the front. Self-timer does not take great pictures...



This dress was a pretty easy project. The only problem is that the skirt part isn't very stretchy, so I have to be careful getting the dress on and off. I think I should have sewed the skirt onto some elastic the same size as the tank top, and then sewed my shirt into the elastic. That would probably add some extra stretch. I am excited to make more of these! I think it will be perfect for summer.