So, I’ve been dying to make myself something fun to wear lately but being pregnant makes it hard to justify especially with only 5 weeks to go. But, this weekend I finally bit the bullet and made myself this little puppy:
Oh-So-Darling!
I figured it was the perfect thing to make because it could easily be worn after the baby comes and look just as cute cause of the empire waist. No fleeting last minute maternity wardrobe additions for me!!
Even better is the fact that I just used a tank top I had on hand that had some grease stains from me not wearing any aprons in the kitchen while I cook. Does this happen to anyone else? I swear I ruin waaay too many shirts with butter or EVOO splashes…so annoying!! Well, here is a great use for saving one from the throw-away pile!
Annnd what’s even better is that I had a super cute dress to wear on Father’s Day…yay for something cute to wear in the 90 degree humidity we have been “enjoying” this summer!
So whether your pregnant…
or not…
an Elastic Empire Waist Dress is so easy to sew you just have to make one for yourself!!
Or you can even make a smaller version for your little lady…
The instructions are the same just scaled down for your Mini Me!
A-dorable!!
Are ya ready?
Ok, here we go!
{The Elastic Band} Empire Waist Dress
1 tank top
2-inch wide elastic cut to the size of your measurement under your bust line (for your mini-me use 1 1/2 inch wide elastic)
fabric of your choice (1 and 1/2 x the length of your waist measurement for the width and cut it however long you would like it to be…I made mine hit at just above the knee)
rotary cutter and mat
sewing machine and coordinating thread
The goods…easy sewing project here we come!!
See, what did I say…grease spots!!
Ok, so first put your tank top on and mark where it would fall under your bust line. If you are serging the cut edge add about a 1/4 inch to your length. If you are using a regular sewing machine add about 1/2 inch so you can fold it under about 1/4 inch twice and hem.
Then, place the elastic band under your bust and add about an inch to the measurement. I know my elastic is white here but I had a change of color choice at the last minute!!
Then, zig zag stitch the elastic band into a tube overlapping the edges by about 1/2 inch. I zig zagged mine a few times for strength!!
Then, take your fabric and either hem (folding the fabric over 1/4 inch two times) or serge the top edge…where the elastic band will meet it.
Next, you are going to make a gathering stitch right under the hem (or serged edge). To make a gathering stitch you are going to use the longest and widest straight stitch and you are going to sew a straight line all the way across your fabric (at the width you measured at 1 1/2 x your under bust measurement). Do not backstitch at either end and leave long threads at both ends!
Then, pull the bottom thread (or the bobbin thread) and make nice gathers throughout the fabric until the length measures your elastic band.
Now, at this point I sewed my fabric into a tube but your could easily do this step right before your gathering step…it really makes no difference.
Then, just pin the skirt fabric, right side facing the elastic band, to the bottom of the elastic band and zig sag stitch it in place. Make sure your skirt seam and your elastic band seam are matched up too!
Then, pin your tank top, wrong side out, at the upper portion of the elastic band and zig zag into place too. Making sure your tank top side seam is matching the elastic band/skirt seam too!!
Lastly, flip your dress right side out and try it on to see where you would like the bottom hem to fall. Then just cut your fabric and hem it in place and you my friend are all done!
Woo Hoo!!
You just made yourself an Elastic Band Empire Waist Dress!!!
Sooo Pretty!
…and Stylish!!!!
Or, make one for your little lady!!
**FYI: Penny’s elastic band measurement was 20 inches and her fabric width was 30 inches…she is 22 months old!**
Now, your Mini Me can stop and smell the flowers looking Oh-So-Cute!
Yup, now that’s sweet!!
LOVE IT!
That is ADORABLE!
Im not pregnant, but I still want one! Very cute….. love your blog too 🙂
Happy Summer !!
Stephanie
I’m so featuring this!!
I’m so featuring this!!
You look great in your new dress! (and so does your mini me) I also have ruined too many shirts with evoo and butter. You’d think I’d learn my lesson by now.
I LOVE it! Now I just need to find someone’s sewing machine to borrow!
So pretty. You look cute preggers too. 🙂 I really want to make this dress now and then another one for when I am pregnant! What a versatile dress.
So pretty. You look cute preggers too. 🙂 I really want to make this dress now and then another one for when I am pregnant! What a versatile dress.
Adorable dress!! The mini-me is pretty cute too!
That is so great!! I wish I could sew!! Looks brilliant. I wish I looked as good (I’m 24 weeks and look like a blimp!).
You are so clever!
This is sooo stinkin’ cute, aewsome, fan-freakin’-tastic. I’ve got to get into the city for a couple of tank tops and go for it!
Thanks a bunch for this ;o)
Carolyn
Nice work on the dress! It looks great.
In order to get rid of oil stains I use Lestoil (I just buy it online)…it smells nasty, but it does the trick. I’ve used it on old and new stains. Regardless, it seems to work wonders! 🙂 You might consider giving it a try.
I love the matchy-matchy!
you look adorable!! I am definitely going to make this dress!! Thanks!
Happens that I have 7 weeks left and that I do have a 23 month old mini-me as well!
Those looks so simple to make… and I do have those ruined tank tops. I should give it a try so we have matching dresses for our bdays in two weeks!
I made a tshirt wide elastic band dress for my daughter. She did not like it… said the neck of the shirt pulled choked her! I don’t know what I did wrong… So I have plans to take the t-shirt off and she can have a skirt!
I love yours… I love matching dresses for mom and daughters!!
So cute! I am a sewing beginner and this looks like a project I can handle.
By the way, I’ve had sucess removing grease stains from clothing by pre-treating the stain with liquid dish soap. It has some grease cutting something or other in it.
The dresses are adorable!! I am guilty of the grease spots, I should just break down and buy an apron :).
Love it! I just had a baby & this would be the perfect summer dress while trying to lose the baby weight. You and your mini me are adorable by the way!
Soooooo. Cute. I am new to your blog and I am lovin’ all your creativeness! I hope it can rub off on THIS beginning sewer!
P.S. Chem Dry has a product called Lavendoria that takes out grease stains with ease…and it smells good! Happy Crafting!
Sweet! I just made one of these for one of my girlies and I wish I would have done it a little more like yours. I’ll have to try again to get it just right.
Sweet! I just made one of these for one of my girlies and I wish I would have done it a little more like yours. I’ll have to try again to get it just right.
YEAH! a little something for us expecting mamas out here.
this is super cute and I might just have the perfect fabric hanging out for it too!
thanks so much for the tutorial~
Awesome Job! You are looking Fab!! 🙂
So creative and lovely!!!
I am featuring this at somedaycrafts.blogspot.com!
I am featuring this at somedaycrafts.blogspot.com!
Not to dog on the dress design (because it really is adorable), but did you know that you can get most kitchen grease stains out by soaking them in Dawn for 20 minutes before throwing them in the wash? Works like a charm, even if the item has already been washed and dried! Plus, I use a little nail brush on bigger messes, which doesn’t damage the fabric! 🙂
Not to dog on the dress design (because it really is adorable), but did you know that you can get most kitchen grease stains out by soaking them in Dawn for 20 minutes before throwing them in the wash? Works like a charm, even if the item has already been washed and dried! Plus, I use a little nail brush on bigger messes, which doesn’t damage the fabric! 🙂
CUTE!!!!!!!! and I just wanted to let you know I am featuring your website on the whats new section of bigbearswife.com
You have an awesome site!!
This is so CUTE! SO funny – becuase I was at the store trying on dresses yesterday and I thought to myself “I bet I could find some tutorial online to make one myself so it would fit better”. And VIOLA – I found yours! Thanks so much for the tutorial — I will definitely be using this!! 🙂
Great tutorial – dress looks lovely on you and your mini-me. Viv x
Totally awsome. It looks cute. I bet it feels comfortable – and goodness knows you need comfort at the end. And, best of all, it recycles. Good work.
I wanted to show my girls how easy these would be to make and when I googled for directions, I found your tutorial! Thanks for sharing!
My daughters are in there teens, so I don’t think we’ll be doing the matching thing! 🙂
happy Friday!
Sharon
PS Please stop by my blog and enter my CSN Stores giveaway!
http://keeninspirations.blogspot.com/2010/09/csn-giveaway-linky-party-and-question.html
K this is the cutest thing EVER. I’m not pregnant (nor will I be for a long time ha) but I’m so making this dress still. Love it and I love the matching one you made for your daughter! So cute.
Thanks for this tute. It’s been awhile, I know, but I’m just finally coming out of the post-pregnancy haze (8.5 months later) and would love to make this dress out of a stained maternity tank. Question: what kind of elastic do you use? Brand? I am trying to find some, but every time I go in to my local Hancock Fabrics, they don’t have any but this heavy duty white stuff… Thanks!
kvossler@gmail.com
Hi Krista! I bought my elastic at Joann’s in their elastic/notions section, I think it’s Dritz…it is fairly soft definitely not heavy duty…although it will stretch so heavy duty may actually work fairly well!
Maggie
Hi there! I am a beginning sewer and I am in my second trimester of pregnancy, so finding this pattern was a dream come true! Thank you so much for posting it!
Ronnie
Looks comfy… Thanks for the idea
I love this dress and how easy it was to make. I linked to your tutorial here: http://crazydazedesigns.blogspot.com/2011/09/easy-empire-waist-dress.html
cute! Think I may just make the skirt and tuck in the tank – slightly lazy version 😉 For the grease stains – just rub in dish soap (the liquid kind in a squeezy bottle) and a bit of water to make it suds-up then throw it in the machine as normal – magic – I’ve saved so many tops this way!
You are awesome for sharing this!! Thank you! I am pregnant and can’t wait to try this.
I love this dress….and I am not pregnant. Here is a tip for getting out the grease spots. Put Dawn (the blue formula) on the dress and let sit for a day or two, then throw in the washer with a regular load and PRESTO…no more spots. Learned this from my Mom, and it only has worked with the original blue dawn…dont use the kind with bleach.
awesome dress i am only 11 ang ime a sewer i got my machine for christmas and i so want to make this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Would you be able to do it without sewing the top so that it would be a skirt/dress you can wear over various tank tops/shirts?
Oh yes, for sure! That would be equally cute! 🙂
I just made this and it’s so awesome! Thanks so much for the tutorial! I’m pregnant with our third, and last, child so I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on summer maternity clothes… this is perfect!
That is great to hear!! Happy sewing and hope you have a great pregnancy!!
This is SO cute! Question from a beginner, though. When you sew elastic, do you stretch it as you sew it to the fabric and tank top? I don’t see any puckering on the tank, but I am just wondering if the stitches break when you try to put it on? Thnaks!
This is SO cute! Question from a beginner though. Do you stretch the elastic as you sew it to the fabric and tank? I don’t see any puckering on the tank which tells me “no”, but i am wondering if the stitches will break when I go to put in on! I probably just missed something since I am so new to sewing. Thanks for the help!
You can stretch the elastic a little bit while you sew but the main thing is to make sure you use a zig zag stitch on elastic as that will help prevent the stitch from breaking while you stretch it to put it on!
You are so cute! Glad you made something for yourself. 🙂 And yes, I’m totally guilty of cooking without an apron. . . . . PS love the mini version too.
Glad you made something for yourself! You’re the cutest! 🙂 Love the mini version too. And yes, I am guilty of cooking without an apron and staining shirts. . . .
Hi Maggie! After reading this tutorial, I couldn’t even wait a day before I gave it a try! Check it out here.
I love this dress. I am going to make one in red/white/blue for the 4th. Do you think it would be OK to sew the elastic to the skirt (without doing the gathering) by stretching the elastic as you sew? I have made other skirts like that and it would skip a step. The instructions said to mark the quarter points on both the elastic and the fabric and stretch the elastic so those points meet when you sew it. Then you sew up the seam all at once. I am not sure how it would work with this. I hope this was clear.
Connie
Hi Connie! I would think you should be able to do that no problem with this skirt! The goal is to keep the elastic stretchy and that would do it for sure!! Have fun making one!!
Just made the dress! I love it. Thanks for the tute.
Carbona for Oil and Grease. Works every time!
Love this tutorial! I followed another link from Pinterest, and I am so glad I did because at that tutorial I was wondering “I wonder how that would work for pregnancy!” Glad to see that it does. 🙂 How did the dress work for you post-baby?
Not pregnant but adore this dress so will make one for my short but ample body! Perfect for the summer in a hot office. Whoever thought this idea up is very clever indeed and it is fab for the grease stains too (as well as the comments about things people have used to remove them).
thank you.
love the idea but can it be done without the elastic band
It could but you would need someway of zipping it or buttoning it. The elastic helps to stretch it when putting it on!