Tutorial: Women's sizes 0-18 Halter Dress

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TUTORIAL: Elastic Back Halter Dress for Women - Sizes 0-18

*Made from one piece of fabric - not too gathered - great for a coverup, too!

The other day I posted  THIS TUTORIAL - click here - showing you how to make an XS/Small halter dress for women. Several ladies emailed me asking how to make it in larger sizes, so here is a written tutorial showing you how to make the same dress in larger sizes.

Suggested fabric: lightweight cotton, seersucker, linen blend, jersey, rayon, rayon blend

1. Gather materials.
fabric, straight edge, fabric marker, half yard of 1/4 inch elastic, 1 or 1 and 1/2 yards of ribbon for straps, iron, thread and sewing machine

2. Cut 1 piece of fabric according to the size dress you are making using 58-60 inch wide fabric:

*If you usually are on the "tall" side - add 2 inches to the length.
*If you are on the "petite" side - subtract 2 inches to the length.

XS - 33 in long x 44 in wide - need 1 yard
S- - 33.5 in long x 48 in wide - need 1 yard
M- 34 in long x 50 in wide - need 1 yard
L- 34.5 in long x 52 in wide - need 1 yard
XL- 36 in long x 56 in wide - need 1 yard

3. Iron your piece of fabric in half widthwise. (Size of fabric piece listed above.)

4. Starting at the top left edge measure down ------ inches. Draw a line --------- inches long towards the fold of the fabric, then curve up and draw a line all the way towards the top of the fabric's edge. (That curve is your armhole curve.) Do this according to your size below:

XS - 9 inches down, 11 inches across
Small - 9.5 inches down, 12 inches across
Medium - 10 inches down, 12.5 inches across
Large - 10.5 inches down, 13 inches across
X-Large - 11 inches down, 13.5 inches across

5. Cut along your lines / your armhole curve.

6. Cut two strips of 1/4 inch elastic --- inches long each.

XS- 5 inches

Small - 5.5 inches

Medium - 6 inches

Large - 6.5 inches

X-Large - 7 inches

7. Pin each strip of elastic 1 inch away from the edge.

8. Starting at the pinned edge, sew on your elastic. Pull your elastic taut as you sew it to your fabric 1/4 inch away from the top edge. Your fabric will start to gather. Repeat for both sides.

9. Picture above shows elastic sewn into place.

10.  Fold over 1/4 inch then another 1/4 inch on your dress straight edge and armhole (the shape you cut out). Pin and sew. Repeat for other side. This hems your back/armholes.

11. Hem the top edge (for the neckline casing) 1 inch, press with an iron, then fold another inch. Press with an iron and pin.

12. Sew along your folded edge.

13. Lay dress right sides together and pin down the side. Sew along this pinned edge using a 1/2 inch seam allowance. Serge/zig-zag stitch the raw ends.

14. Insert your ribbon through the ribbon casing. Your ribbon will be 36-48 inches long - this depends on your personal preference. Fray check the ends.

 

14. Gather the neckline onto the ribbon. Try on your dress.
15. If the back is too large, it's an easy fix! Take off the dress. Turn it inside out and lay the right sides together again on the back seam. If you need to "take it in" by 2 inches, sew a line all the way down the back of your dress one inch away from the line you previously sewed. This will alter it by 2 inches. *Just modify that according to how big your dress is for you (if it is).
16. Try it on again and then hem it as you wish and enjoy it all summer long! **Sew the ribbon into place at the middle of the dress using a small vertical stitch.