dressed

I made a list of things to do before I turn 25. As I learned all through my middle and high school careers (This is for you Mr.'s Johnson, Tovar, Luedtke, Frerking(s), Ms.' Gertz, Chandler, Henderson, Smith and so many more!), that goal setting was the thing to do. Because goals give us something to work toward. Now that I don't have someone setting an outline of those goals for me, and less tangible milestones (ie. passing an AP exam), I can see the benefit of having goals.

Now, coming back to my little list. I thought I had relatively few things crossed off (translation: one), but it turns out, I had actually begun work on a few and finished them!

So without further ado, my self-made dress.

There are many tutorials online about how to do this. I didn't really follow any of them. I kind of read a few and just winged it. Except for when it came to pockets. I used a guide for that.

Unfortunately, I didn't take pictures of the process because I wasn't even sure this was something that was going to work. All I knew was that I had some beautiful batik fabric that I hustled sweetly asked for and received from my aunt. And I had a green top that I didn't wear very often because it shrank and was too short to really be decent/modest/attractive/flattering. But I didn't want to give it away because I'd only worn it twice.

Here are my attempts to show you the elements that I was working with after the finished product.


There are plenty of tutorials out there on how to make dresses out of old t-shirts and tanks and other things. I improvised a little, blending a few. My shirt had an elastic bottom, so that had to be worked in. I learned how to place a gathered fabric onto something with a set length and pinned away. Then I sewed away.


Then I tried it on. And it sagged. The little green shirt that was meant to have some flow was pulled out. Not so attractive. Essentially the elastic in the shirt was too weak to hold up the weight of the batik fabric. My solution? Buy heavier elastic and just sew that sucker on.

It kind of worked. The dress fell in the right places and all that was left was to add pockets. I followed this tutorial, but I altered the shape of the pockets to be deeper.

Then I was done!

On to wear my little dress and check that item off the list! :)

What do you think? What items can you rework? Ever made a dress?

P.S. The first time I wore it out and about, I noticed that the skirt it a little wonky. Meaning off centered. Not obviously, but the pockets are a little... locationally asymmetrical. Oh well. Something to work on next time I get a hankering to recycle my clothing. :)