Let’s talk about the weather.

Ours is being its ol’ tropical self. In other words, it’s humid and I HATE IT. I cope by doing surgery on old DIY projects and making summer-appropriate things.

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The top of this dress used to be ONE OF THESE. And the bottom part is from THIS BOHO DRESS. The top, while the color agrees with my skin tone, is a tad short for “going out” wear. The dress, meanwhile, feels too young for my almost-30 brain. So I combined the two.  And drew a tutorial.

 

To make a tank top summer dress, you will need: an old tank top, a long skirt or dress (shirred or elastic waist), 1.5-inch width elastic, thread that matches the color of your elastic, sewing machine, and scissors.

And here’s how you combine the top and the skirt/dress:

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1. Measure the desired length of your tank top top. A little above your true waist is recommended. Of course, you can also choose the underbust for a more empire waist look.

2. Cut your skirt/dress for the bottom part of your new dress. If your skirt is short enough, you may no longer need to butcher it for your new dress; simply remove the elastic waistline.

NOTE: Do not forget to add allowance to the sections that you will be cutting. 

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3. Measure your elastic waistline. This should be an inch or two shorter than the new waistline of your dress. Sew the ends of this elastic together.

4. Next, you will sew the bottom side of the elastic to the top part of your dress bottom, right side facing up. As you sew, stretch the elastic towards you. This way, the top part of your dress bottom will be beautifully shirred and stretch along the elastic. If your dress bottom is much wider than your elastic’s stretch would allow, you can manually fold and/or shirr the former as you sew.

5. The last step is to attach the other side of the elastic to the tank top part, right side facing up as well. Again, stretch the elastic as you sew. The trick here is to pin the sides of the elastic matching the sides of the tank top. The middle front section of your tank top should also correctly be placed and pinned to the middle front section of the elastic. These pinned parts should be sewn together and not be affected by the way you stretch the elastic. Otherwise, the top part of your dress might just be a tad twisted.

And you’re done!

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If, like me, you used a tube maxi dress for the bottom part of your new tank top dress, you might want to sew the hem of the fabric you have leftoever. You know, the one that has the bustline elastic. Because this, basically, is now a “new” skirt.

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