Saturday, August 4, 2012

Buttonhole Halter Dress

I hope everyone is having a great weekend.  We are battling through some dragging fevers and coughs.  Summer sickness is just the worst!  Poor Alaire won't eat anything, so we took her out for ice cream (as responsible parents do).  If you have kids you just know the desperate feeling to get them to eat SOMETHING sometimes, especially when they are sick.  

I am currently "under the gun" if you will on about 100 different projects right now.  If I finish one, I will share it!  I have a garage full of furniture, which must get finished and moved into the house.  My husband has a rule he sometimes throws out at me.  "Nothing comes in the garage until something goes into the house"  He's right.  I get crazy and buy more than I can handle, but sometimes you just won't find the piece again or for the right price. 

I did find the old China cabinet/hutch for my craft room last week, too bad I only could fit half of it in my car.  The dude (I meant dude) I bought it from says he will deliver the top of it on Monday (crossing my fingers he will, but not holding my breath)  So in the mean time here is a project I have finished.

This is a quick dress I made for Alaire last month out of Drew's old button up and a scrap of stretch knit.   At the time I should have been cleaning out my side of the closet, which I actually did today.  But anyway, for some reason I was looking through his shirts that he doesn't wear or are too small.  I found this blue striped button up.   Here is what I did to make the dress:

I cut the shirt under the arms.  This is going to be your skirt piece.

I took piece of elastic, the measurement of Alaire's ribcage and zig-zag stitched it to the top of the skirt piece.  I stretched the elastic while sewing to gather it.  (You could also just gather the waistband too with thread)


I made a tube out of the stretch knit.  (width= chest measurement and length is double the finished bodice piece)  Alaire is a 2T and I made mine 20x7.5.   I used an old polo for the blue knit and used a piece that was already hemmed.  If you don't use a pre hemmed piece, you can just hem it. (Fold the end under twice and top stitch)

Turn the skirt and the tube inside out.  Slip the tube over the skirt piece and align raw edges. The right side of the tube should be touching the wrong side of the skirt. Stitch all the way around.


Flip the skirt right side out and it should look like the photo above.

As you can see here is the pre hemmed edge.  Bring it down to right above the elastic stitching on the right side of the skirt, as pictured above.  Stitch all the way around.  

Sew a button hole through the center of the bodice.

Make a long tube out of extra material or use a piece of ribbon to thread through the button hole.  
Annd... BOOM  you have a Buttonhole Halter Dress. 

It is really cute on.  It is really airy and comfortable too.  My model (Alaire) runs wayyy too fast when I try to get pictures of her in new dresses.  I have to wait until she is actually wearing them for the day to get a photo.  
Enjoy the rest of the weekend. I am off to eat a bowl of Chili and watch the Olympics!  I know I know it is crazy hot out, but sometimes when it hits the end of the summer (insert sad face)  I start getting ready for fall and football season, so Chili just sounded good.  


2 comments:

  1. How wonderfully simple yet beautiful! Thank you for sharing this with us! I plan to try it tomorrow for a friend

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  2. Wow........!!!Awesome...!!! Thanks for sharing.
    www.blissfulsewing.blogspot.com

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