15 CW: Knock-Off Dress

Hi there seven thirty three readers. I'm Becky from over at Realynn. First I want to thank Kim for letting me guest post here today. How exciting right?!

Before I get on to the tutorial I wanted to share with you a little about what my blog is all about. I am a stay at home mommy to two kids. I love being home but when I start to go crazy I like to craft (we all go crazy once in a while right?). My newest quest is to make Knock Offs. I would love to be able to afford whatever my heart desired but it's just not going to happen so instead I have looked for inspiration on other blogs, clothing websites, etc. to find things I think I can make just as good for a fraction of the cost. Here is a look at some knock offs I've done so far.

Knock Off tulle skirt here.

Subway Art Dining Room Table Rules here.

Here is my tutorial for Creativity Week! I saw this dress at Old Navy and loved it but wanted it in a different print. This is what I came out with.

Adorable right? Yeah she has her eyes closed in both pics but I loved them anyway so here they are. This is a really easy dress to make.

Here is what you need...tank top, fabric, thread and elastic thread.

I used half a yard of fabric but ended up cutting a bit off for the shirt version, for the dress I used the whole half a yard.

I got my tank tops at Old Navy when they were 5 for $10. This would be great also if you have tank tops with stains on them.

First I serged the top of the whole width of the fabric. Selvage to selvage. If you don't have a serger you can press down 1/4 in. and then another 1/4 in. to hem it.

Now it is time to shirr it. Don't know how? I found a great tutorial here.

I sewed my first line right below my serged edge.

Then I used the edge of my presser foot lined up with the row before it for even lines.

I sewed 5 rows.

Here it is before pressing it to gather it even more.

Pressing it. Don't go back and forth on the stitches. Just press and lift and repeat. (please ignore my dirty iron)

Here it is all shirred!

Fold your fabric right sides together so the selvages are both on one side and sew that side seam.

Put your tank top in between the layers where you want the shirred part to start. I measured down 2 in. from the arm holes. I marked my fabric with a pin so I would know where to sew the side seam. Take the tank out and sew your seam. I sewed a slight A-line here.

Now you will have a tube for the skirt of the dress.

Slip the tank back into the skirt part and pin in place.

Now to sew the skirt of the dress to the tank top.

With a regular straight stitch sew all around the dress 1/4 in. from the top. Again I used my presser foot as my guide.

Almost done! Flip your dress inside out and trim your fabric to the length you want.

For this one I made a shirt so I went a little below the bottom of the tank and hemmed it up.

For the dress do all the steps above just leave it longer. You can cut your tank top bottom off if you want but I just left mine. Less work!

So there it is....My knock off.

Again, Thank you so much for having me today Kim!

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I love how Becky turned this adorable inspiration dress into TWO new pieces.  They are both adorable, as is her model!