Summer Convertible Dress

Let me begin by saying - I have a lot of sundresses. I love my maxi sun dresses. In Texas summers, it is a necessity and I wear them on outings, dates, & work. So...While cleaning out my closet, I came across a Target sundress that I bought a couple summers ago, but never wear, and another Target sundress that I bought at a thrift store for a refashion.

Both dresses are made of Rayon, and both were approximately the same length & cut. I like full maxi dresses - my over 40 figure does not like a fitted look - so I never really wore my one dress. But I really liked the fabric on both. My initial idea was to do some rayon palazzo pants, but I opted for a drawstring dress instead.

I've been working on making convertible dress patterns for myself and experimenting with different suitable fabrics for the various convertible patterns. The drawstring dress is nice because it can be tied multiple ways, an works with a wide variety of fabrics (rayon, silk & knits are best). Since these dresses were both basically simple rectangles, a drawstring dress seemed most appropriate.

Here are my starter dresses:

2 Rayon Sun Dresses

• Use a seam ripper to remove the elastic around the waist (black dress). Cut the tops off the dresses so I have 2 rectangular tubes
• Turn the tubes inside out & cut off the sewn side seam ...so now I have 4 separate rectangles

elastic and tops removed... cut off side seams .. now laying stacked to be sewn together and truing up the seams for stitching.

• Sew the 4 rectangles together (long sides) to make a big tube - alternating the pieces: chevron, black floral, chevron, black floral. I sewed mine using the french seam technique.

Sewing wrong sides together first  - then pressing and flipping to sew right sides together to create a french seam on the interior

• I lined up my pieces so that I was using the hem that came with the dress. In other words, I sewed from the bottom up rather than the top down.
• True up the top of the dress. On the Center Back seam (in this case it is the original CB of the black floral dress), open the seam about 6" down and stitch across the seam line to create a "stop" - press the seam allowance of the opening to the inside of the dress & stitch it in place. This creates a 6" deep open "V" on the dress, and gives you a place to create the tube for your drawstring to come out of.
• Fold the top of the dress down 1 1/2" to the inside and press. Then tuck the raw edge up under about 1/4" and press again. this creates the tube for the drawstring. Stitch down your tube about 1/8" in from the inside bottom fold.

That's it. Now you can  grab a 1" wide ribbon, or strip and sew some extra fabric to create a drawstring. I had a wrap style dress already, so I just borrowed that drawstring. Depending on your body size, you will want a drawstring that is 2-3 yards long so you can twist & wrap it around your body to tie it off.

Sorry for the cheesy back yard pics - that was the best I could do at the time. I'll try to get some better pics to post, and I will also tie it up multiple ways and take some pictures for you. I styled the dress with a sweater, heels and jewelry and wore this into the office. I'm also wearing a cami-style sports bra underneath it.

From my Pinterest Board on Convertible Clothing... here's a schematic of a multi-style drawstring dress

Super easy beginner sewing. Very comfy & verstile. Always boho chic!

Stay crafty!