{ elastic waist dress }

Halloween is in only a few days and I'm

barely getting my kids' costumes made! Kaj wanted

to be a witch ("a nice one, not a scary one") this year.

I made this simple dress

that can be dressed up with a witches hat and broom.

But.. I made is so that it didn't have to be a costume! She'll be wearing

this more often than just the holiday! It's too cute for only

one occasion! I can't wait to make more in different colors!

What you'll need:

1. Fabric and scissors
2. Narrow elastic (1/4 inch)
3. Sewing machine and thread
4. Bias tape, ribbon or twill (for straps;optional)

I made this dress to fit my 3 year old. So measurements may

be different for you or your child.

Start by doubling your fabric. I cut mine 20 inches wide. Then I

held it up to my daughter, under her arm, and cut it about an

inch longer than I wanted her dress to be. It was 21 inches long.

Now that you have two pieces, match them up, right sides

together and decide which sides are top and bottom

and which are the left and right sides.

Sew down each side with a 1/2 inch seam.

Now, hem the top and bottom by folding the edges over 1/2 inch

and sewing it down with a 3/8 inch seam.

 

Next, take your elastic and wrap it around the waist

and under arms of the person wearing the dress.

cut your elastic this length.

Now lay your piece out (inside out still).

Measure yourself or your child to decide where the
waist will be. My daughter's was 4" down from the top.

I used my measuring tape and marked around both sides
with chalk.

Now you  are going sew your elastic onto the waist of the dress.

 Start on the seam (you are sewing this to the wrong side

of the fabric). Lay the end of your elastic on the

seam and back stitch.

Now pull your elastic tight and hold it to the fabric.

Sew down the center of the elastic while you are still holding it

stretched out. Do this until you've gone around the whole dress.

You will notice that once you have sewn the elastic, it

shrinks back to size and ruffles the fabric. This is what it's

supposed to do.

Now, sew your second piece of elastic to the top hem

of your dress the same way you sewed

 it to the waist (wrong side of fabric).

 

Now you can leave it like this as a cute strapless dress,

or add straps. I hate sewing straps so I always

use ribbon or bias tape or twill! I used black twill on

this dress.

Put the dress on the person it's being made for. Use

a measuring tape and measure from front to back how

long your straps need to be. Cut two at this length.

While you're measuring, mark where you want them

sewn.

Sew these straps to the dress, on the inside.

I made a V in the back. You can do a more

traditional strap or even an X. Just measure

it accordingly!

 

That's it! A lot of words to explain but very simple

to actually make! I'll be making my self a shirt next!