Adding straps to make a dress from a skirt
August 17, 2016 8:08 PM   Subscribe

I have a foldover skirt that has always been too long for my short stature and required multiple foldings to fit me. Well during a closet cleanout, I realized it almost makes a great dress. Almost, details inside.

The skirt/dress itself. I can sew a little, mostly hand sew. If possible I'd like to do it myself. There appear to be a bunch of tutorials to Add straps to dresses, but a few considerations I don't know how to address.

- I'd like to make straps that allow me to cover bra straps (seen in first pic).
- The top would not stay up on its own and pulls down with movement over time, so straps seem like they'd be necessary no matter what. I played with fashion tape though, and that actually gave it enough support to stay up.
- the material is very stretchy, so I worry just adding straps in a place that seems like a first choice may just pull weird at the point of attachment.
- the material ripped once when removing the tag. I don't know if that speaks to my clumsiness, or material fragility.
- the material is 95% viscose, 5% spandex/elastane
- the skirt originally came from the Gap.
- the band that made up the foldover waste and as a dress makes up the bust is two layers of the fabric, folded at the top.
- it's hella comfortable, like the most comfortable piece of clothing I've ever owned. Thus the effort to convert it.

If need be, especially if doing it myself would spell disaster, I can take it to a tailor. I'm interested in figuring it out myself, it seems as though it should be within my reach, but I'm not sure.
posted by [insert clever name here] to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (8 answers total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
This might help. Cute dress!
posted by bunderful at 8:24 PM on August 17, 2016


Want to test it before you haul off and buy fabric and start sewing? Buy a yard of soft ribbon and cut it in half. Safety pin it in a few different position until you have your ideal strap length and placement. You can sew them on if you like them, or use the tutorial bunderful linked to if you want fabric straps.
posted by ananci at 12:03 AM on August 18, 2016 [2 favorites]


Yeah, there's tons of ways to do this. I'd be tempted to use a matching gray or cream jersey (t shirt) fabric and gather it where it attaches and stitch it down on the front and back. The jersey would complement the fabric and doesn't need to be hemmed. And a gathered strap would be a nice detail.

Also, if you want to make it seem a little more like this dress goes with straps you can do a little bit of gathering in the front center of the dress. Just run a tad bit of thread in and out and pull tight and fasten. It would give it a little more of a sweetheart neckline - like this top.

Just pin everything down and try it on/measure three times before you cut or stitch. Don't stitch down tightly at first in case you need to undo it. Get a seam ripper and be gentle if you remove any stitches.
posted by Crystalinne at 1:12 AM on August 18, 2016 [3 favorites]


You can make straps as wide as you want (to cover bra straps) by sewing tubes. Find material that feels the same in terms of weight and stretch. So you need to cut a rectangle that's about 2" longer than what you want from measuring and about twice as wide as you want the strap to be plus one inch. Fold the rectangle in half length-wise, sew along the edge leaving 1/2" seam, flip inside out and iron it flat. Do it again for strap #2. Then sew this onto the dress along the seam where you've measured it should sit to cover your bra strap.

You could also make finished straps and then use button fasteners rather than just sew them in if that appeals and you can sew buttonholes.

As long as your straps are the right length, they should not pull the material weirdly. If they are too short they could.

I've done this loads of times to turn halter-neck dresses into normal dresses and it's fine but can look really messy on the inside. Your fabric should be okay because you'll be hand sewing and can make sure things don't pull or snag.
posted by Polychrome at 4:30 AM on August 18, 2016 [1 favorite]


Oh and make sure you don't pull/stretch the material you are sewing. You'll have to just be careful with it.
posted by Polychrome at 4:31 AM on August 18, 2016


Yeah, the hardest part is going to be finding the fabric to make the straps if you want to use similar fabric. Rayon jersey or rayon knit is what you are looking for, it has a slight sheen which cotton knits do not have. If you have a local fabric store, they're pretty scarce these days, bring the garment in so you can easily match the color/weight, but contrasting straps (black?) would look okay. You can find it with or without the spandex (lycra, elastane). There are plenty of how-to-make-straps tutorials online for more tips.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 6:27 AM on August 18, 2016


That looks like a soft knit dress so it would lend itself well to braided straps made from t-shirt material. You could repurpose an old white tshirt and an old grey tshirt (or buy white & grey knit fabric at a craft store), cut them in strips and braid similar to the idea in this link. Use fatter fabric strips for a wider braid. The nice thing about braided straps made of tshirt fabric is they require less fussiness about keeping a straight line and less sewing; you'd only need to sew the ends down.

Alternately, if you prefer an exact fabric match: In case you'd be willing to shorten the dress, you could cut a couple of inches from the bottom hem, re-hem it, and use that cut fabric to make the straps with (either refined flat straps or braided).
posted by cuddles.mcsnuggy at 7:49 AM on August 18, 2016 [5 favorites]


If you do make braided straps from t-shire material (a great idea, cuddles), pull the strips of t-shirt material taught lengthwise as you braid them, or the straps will likely stretch when you wear the dress.

Or, you can use two strips of t-shirt material and one of a woven material that's been sewn into a tube first. The woven strip will stabilize the knitted stetchy ones.
posted by Dolley at 9:57 AM on August 18, 2016


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