a day in the life

Et Voilà

Customized look #2 of the week...  This one is not much of a departure from the original.  This is a 7/8 a-line, knee length tank dress taken down to a 2/3 straight, mid-calf length tank dress with side slits.  The flocked primary letters on this classic stripe are très chic, no?  Thanks Flaire!

The DIY deets:

  • Try the garment on your child and use safety pins to determine how much you want to take the garment in on each side.  
  • Measure how far you have pinned in from the edge of the garment on each side, if the measurements are the same, great, if not, average them to determine where you will place your new side seams (for instance if one side you've pinned in 1" from the side seam and on the other you have pinned at 1 1/4" you will use 1 1/8" as your measurement for the new side seam placement).  Based on fabrication and cut of the starting garment it will be best to keep a column shape and place the new side seam at a consistent distance from the existing side seam for the full length of the garment.  Use a thin washable pen or marker to mark the new side seam placement, this will be helpful when you secure the seam allowance for the side slits later on.
  • Before sewing mark the height of your side slits.  We placed ours at the top of the knee.
  • To sew the new side seam a serger will yield the quickest results but if using a sewing machine use a small zig zag stitch to sew your side seam...this stitch has natural give that will stretch a bit with the knit fabric.  Remember to stop stitching where you would like your slit to be placed.  To finish the seam we just repeat this zig zag stitch 1/4" into the seam allowance from the side seam.  Trim the excess fabric along this finishing stitch.
  • If necessary, hem the garment to your desired length.  We used the same mini zig zag stitch, two rows 1/4" apart, to simulate a double needle stitch.  A straight stitch would work just as well....just watch your stitch tension so the fabric does not pucker.
  •   Use a thin layer of stretchable fabric glue to secure the seam allowance along the new side slit openings to the interior of the garment by folding along the markings you made earlier.  (We did this after hemming the garment only because we did not want to stitch thru the glue...it might gum up the machine)*

*This is NOT the proper way to construct a garment, however it is the quick and sane way for a busy mom and really, no one will be the wiser.  If you would perfer to do it properly you would do a 1/4" top stitch to secure the side slits (rather than fabric glue) and then hem the garment.

**Taking this quick moment to recognize that on all of the DIY projects this week we have blown true pattern making out the window!  By taking in the side seams this much we are removing all shape from the armhole and by doing so creating an upside-down tear drop shaped opening.  While not tecnhically 'correct,' in these sleeveless knit garments, it functions just fine and will not be noticeable. 

for the Littles:

for the Girls:

for the rest of Us:

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