DIY: Bodycon Dress
Last time I visited my parent's place, my mom and I visited a designer fabric store and I picked up this amazing grey knit. Been waiting to do a bodycon dress ever since! You just need to find a knit with adequate thickness and some resistance.
Think of it as how thicker workout leggings feel.
Here are the materials you'll need:
2 yds knit fabric
(Yup, that's it.)
Here are the steps…
Fold the knit fabric in half twice lengthwise, and fold a fitted sweater in half with the back on the outside
Align the fitted sweater's center fold with the double fold of the fabric, and trace the body 0.5" from the sweater's body
Add length beyond the hip of the sweater, mine was 47" from the shoulder to the bottom
Open up one layer of the dress body shape that you've just cut out, on the inside layer that is still folded cut the neckline to be deeper
Fold the knit fabric in half twice along the untouched side to get ready to make sleeves
Align the fitted sweater's sleeve fold to the double fold of the fabric, and trace the sleeve 0.5" from the sleeve's shape
Sew the front and back of the dress body together at the shoulders, right sides touching with a straight stitch
Fold the sleeve pieces along their line of symmetry and pin the fold to the shoulder seams you just made at the armhole, right sides together
Unfold the sleeves and sew them to the armholes of the dress
Seal the two sides of the jacket, starting from the armpit down the sleeves and also from the armpit to the waist
Try on the dress and adjust the side seams until it is the correct tightness along your body
Cut off the excess fabric and go over the entire side seam with a zigzag stitch for security
Seal the edges of the armholes and bottom of the dress with a zigzag stitch all the way around
Fold the edges of the armholes and bottom of the dress inward and sew all the way around with a straight stitch
Cut a collar piece that is 1.5" wide and long enough to go all the way around the neck hole, with the direction of stretch going along the length
Trim the neck hole if necessary to ensure the front and back align cleanly
Fold 0.5" of one of the short ends of the collar piece and pin this right side together with the dress at the shoulder
Sew this collar piece to the neck hole all the way around, overlapping the fold that was made at the beginning when you make it back around
Fold the collar piece inward twice and pin it in place all the way around the neck hole
Sew the collar all the way around with a straight stitch, this is a way of hemming the neck hole without puckering the fabric.
