Summer is slowly coming around so I sharing with you this DIY, a two piece dress : skirt and bandeau top!
Like many I’m transitioning my wardrobe to a more sustainable one, one with less items but more basic, quality items and especially ethically made ones. Les pieces that are more trendy, that I’m not so sure I’ll love forever I try to by second hand (and alter them if necessary) or make them myself!
In this case it’s a mix of both since I found the fabric in a second hand store!
Value village usually has a good selection of fabrics, if not sheets or curtains can be great!
This is a good beginner sewing project as it’s pretty simple!
The “pattern”
I used my piece of fabric to the max (0 waste), here’s how I cut it up
haut = top
jupe = skirt
ceinture = belt
The skirt
Steps :
- Make a simple hem on both sides, all along the long sides of the skirt
- To make pleats : on your machine, select longest stitch possible and adjust tension to 0. I use a different color on the canister to know which string to pull
- Make a straight sticht all along the top of the skirt and pull on canister thread to pleat until you get the desired length (a bit longer than your waist)
- Iron your belt so it has a fold on the middle and two 1 cm folds going towards the inside. Place your belt against the top on the pleated skirt right sides together and sew
- Fold the belt in half with your 1 cm fold goinf inside. Sew to close the belt (sew from the front side for nicer result)
- To close skirt I used a visisble button and hidden snap inside
- Pour refermer la jupe j’ai choisi un bouton visible + une petite pression invisible à l’intérieur
It gives for quite a big slit on the leg (avoid windy days!) I wear mini shorts underneath but you could also add a few buttons!
The top
Steps:
- Hem the top with a large hem (2 in / 5 cm)
- Add two stitches all along, 1 cm appart (1/2 in)
- Run elastics through the tunnels created (test the length on yourself, not too tight but enough to hold your top up! (generally 10 cm less than what it takes to go around where you want to wear your top)
- Sew the elastics to each end
- Fold your piece of fabric right sides together and sew together to create tube top
- I didn’t hem the bottom, just ripped the fabric to get a raw edge
Wear a bandeau bra underneath and voila!
