The Everchanging Maxi Dress - (sorta) Tutorial

I think it is safe to say that I prefer patternless sewing. I made this dress/skirt this afternoon just using a couple measurements, and you can too! The best part about the outfit is that it can be a dress or a skirt and with the ties you can change the look pretty quickly to suit your mood.

Sorry for the less than stellar pictures - I am all packed and ready to go shoot my next birth and don't want to mess with my camera bag until that baby gets here! These were all taken with my iPhone.

Step 1: Measure your waist and times by 1.5. So if your waist is 32" your measurement with be 48". That is the width of your dress/skirt.

Step 2: Determine how long you want your dress and that with be the length.

Step 3: Using a gathering stitch on the top edge of your dress. Pull your gather to the width of your waist (32"). This was so easy using the spandex/knit I got on clearance at Joann Fabrics. Then using a zig-zag stitch go over your gather so they don't move.

Step 4: Sew up your side seam using a zig-zag stitch

Step 5: Cut out a piece of fabric that is the width of your waist (32") and how ever long you want the top section to be. The longer you make it the more if can fold but can also get bunchy. I made mine about 12 inches.

Step 6: Attach the wrong side of the skirt section to the right side of the top section using a zig-zag stitch. I know that seems a little wonky, but when you put it on the top part will then fold over.

Step 7: I then cut a piece of material that I could easily wrap around myself two time and have length to tie.

Step 8: Sew the strip of material to the middle of your top section.

Step 9: If you used a knit like I did then you are done - no seams to finish!!

Now go stand in front of a mirror and practice all the ways you can tie it.

I love the way the tie adds some support when you are wearing it as a dress. It feels really secure.