Today I have a tutorial for you. This is a tutorial that should have been written last year, but apparently I forgot! One of my followers, Tammy, emailed me this week looking for it, since the one I originially wrote was on my old computer, I decided it was time to make another tank dress.
This is the original.
Material you will need:
1 tank top, any type as long as it fits your Monkey.
2-3 pieces of cotton fabric. The amount will vary, my original dress was a 3-4T and used four fat quarters, this time I used two pieces that were 45" long and 7 1/2" wide to make a 6-7.
thread to match your fabric
Try the tank on your Monkey if possible, you don't wan the tank longer than hip length, if neccessary cut the tank to hip length and serge or zig zag the raw edge.
Next you will match the selvege ends of your fabric and sew a seam, serge or zig zag the seam.
Now it is time to gather. I use a double row of stitching for this. You can find a great tutorial for gathering here.
When it is done it should look like this.
You can do this next step two ways. First if you have a finished edge (hem of tank) you can pin that right on top of the gathered fabric. If you do not have a finished edge then pin your tank and fabric right sides together and make a seam.
Once you have attached your first piece of fabric be sure to tear out your gathering stitch it should look like this when you are done.
See how it is a little more relaxed looking?
Now, I did not have enough fabric to make a full second row, like I did before, so I just matched my fabric together and made a seam. Again, make sure to serge or zig zag your raw edges. If you would like your skirt to be fuller, then add another 10 -20 inches and gather.
All you have left is to put in a hem. I am lazy and I don't like to hem stuff so I just put in a rolled hem using my serger. If you don't have that option then just fold your fabric under a quarter inch and iron, then fold it over again, and iron, stitch just slightly lower than the folded edge.
You're done! Your finished product should look something like this.
Now, this was not my first choice of pictures of this dress. I let Little Monkey wear it Wednesday night, right after I finished it and thought she wouldn't get it dirty. I thought wrong. She got red crayon on the shirt, which I immediatly added my Tide pen to, then she got dirt on it. It is now in the wash for the second time, hopefully it will all come clean!
ADDENDUM: I just got to looking at my original tank dress. For that dress I made my bottom layer twice as long as the top layer of the skirt. I then matched those two layers, shorter over longer, and gathered them and attached them to the tank. Both layers werer the same measurements wideth wise, just different length wise.
Hope you give this dress a try!
Melissa
This is the original.
Material you will need:
1 tank top, any type as long as it fits your Monkey.
2-3 pieces of cotton fabric. The amount will vary, my original dress was a 3-4T and used four fat quarters, this time I used two pieces that were 45" long and 7 1/2" wide to make a 6-7.
thread to match your fabric
When it is done it should look like this.
See how it is a little more relaxed looking?
Now, I did not have enough fabric to make a full second row, like I did before, so I just matched my fabric together and made a seam. Again, make sure to serge or zig zag your raw edges. If you would like your skirt to be fuller, then add another 10 -20 inches and gather.
All you have left is to put in a hem. I am lazy and I don't like to hem stuff so I just put in a rolled hem using my serger. If you don't have that option then just fold your fabric under a quarter inch and iron, then fold it over again, and iron, stitch just slightly lower than the folded edge.
You're done! Your finished product should look something like this.
Now, this was not my first choice of pictures of this dress. I let Little Monkey wear it Wednesday night, right after I finished it and thought she wouldn't get it dirty. I thought wrong. She got red crayon on the shirt, which I immediatly added my Tide pen to, then she got dirt on it. It is now in the wash for the second time, hopefully it will all come clean!
ADDENDUM: I just got to looking at my original tank dress. For that dress I made my bottom layer twice as long as the top layer of the skirt. I then matched those two layers, shorter over longer, and gathered them and attached them to the tank. Both layers werer the same measurements wideth wise, just different length wise.
Hope you give this dress a try!
Melissa
This is cute. I might just have to try it for my little grand-monkeys.:>) When my daughter was little I made slips for her this way using white tanks and white fabric.
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