Sunday Sew-Day: Beating the Heat

As August approaches, it's been getting hotter and hotter here (though not as bad a summer as it could be). Still, now is the time of year when I avoid the sun like a red-headed vampire. When I give serious thought to shaving my head. When I try to wear as little clothing as public decency allows. In pursuit of the latter, I decided to make over this XL dress from my heavier days.

My plan was to salvage the skirt portion and attach it to a new top. Enter this plain ol' Nautica tee I thrifted years ago and hardly ever wear.

My first step was to cut the skirt off the dress. Since the black lining kept peeking out from the bottom of the skirt, I pulled it up a couple inches and trimmed the top to be even again. That'll keep the lining hidden better.

Next, I put on the shirt and marked where I wanted the new waist to be. Then I chopped off the bottom about 1/2 inch below that.

I inserted the inside-out shirt into the right-side-out skirt and lining. There was more skirt fabric than t-shirt, so I gently stretched the fabric as I sewed a zig-zag stitch. This stretching makes it look really wonky and ruffly, BUT this will be hidden, so no need to fret. Also, notice the seam is on the outside of the dress.

I turned my seam the other way and sewed again about 1/2 inch from the fold, using a simple straight stitch this time, to hide the raw edges as well as create a casing for my elastic waistband.

I grabbed a length of elastic long enough to fit my waist snugly. I believe this was actually salvaged from another refashioned skirt/dress. I snipped a little hole in the black lining fabric of the casing, and using a safety pin, I fed the elastic through it. I joined the ends of the elastic securely by sewing back and forth a few times with a straight stitch.

And there you have it! A quick, easy, comfortable dress for the blazing Texas heat.

Have you heard? The third season of Refashion Runway starts this coming Saturday! I had such a blast as a contestant during season two a couple years, and I plan to sew along with the weekly challenges this time as well. Won't you join me?