The 30 Minute Dress

This is one of the easiest dresses I have ever made on my serger! Don’t despair if you do not have a serger you can use your sewing machine with the zig zag stitch and it will work fine. Here is how I did it…..

First I went to my local thrift store in search of plus size sweaters, knits and thermal knits.

I found some good ones!

My first attempt at this project was a big flop. Sometimes it doesn’t matter how much experience with sewing you have, you can still have failures. I think of them as learning experiences. Below is my first quick upcycle that did not work out. I learned here that the sweater knits get pushed around and become uneven in my serger. They need to be baste stitched for color blocking to keep all the seams meeting where you want them.

On my second attempt I took the 3 waffle knit shirts and I laid them out and studied them. I wanted to make something that was not only fast, but easy. Within minutes sparks flew from my head and hands.

Then I started cutting out my pieces. 3 shirts worked out perfect!

For the bodice I was able to keep the shoulder seams intact and use the original neckline.

I was able to keep the original hemline in the skirt of the dress.

The sleeve’s end had the original hemline from the shirt as well. This knocked off an hour or more of finishing.

My pattern, in case you were wondering, was an old dress I deconstructed from another thrift store. I sewed it all in this order.

Bodice front to skirt front at the waistline. I serged 1/4″ elastic in so it would stretch over my body but not over-stretch.

Then I repeated this: bodice back to the skirt sewing at the waistline with another strip of elastic stitched right on top of that seam with my serger.

While the sides are still open I set in the sleeves. It is much easier to set in sleeves that are open and flat.

Last I sewed down the side seams and finished my serger threads at the ends with a little black zig zag stitch on my standard sewing machine. No threads will be hanging out at my sleeve ends or the bottom of my dress.

Here are a few other quick and easy thrift store upcycles.

Behind the Scenes~

The Clash Fashion show is this weekend!

My classes are all listed too.

Thank you for reading!

Tracy McElfresh

Dream it! Sew it!

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Tracy McElfresh

Owner at Tracy's Sewing Studio

Tracy McElfresh is an alterations and fit specialist, Kettering Arts Council member, and Kettering resident. Tracy has a skillset built from multigenerational roots in the sewing and garment industries. Operating out of a studio located inside Rosewood Art Centre she provides alterations, garment design (including a strong passion for swimwear), formal and casual dressmaking, and sewing classes. Tracy founded a meetup group in 2014 called the Dayton Garment Designers Meet Up that is open to all newcomers at any skill level. In her free time, she is an avid writer and blogger and was a recognized award winner in 2018 as having one of the Best Dressmaker Blogs on the Planet from Blogspot. You can follow her work on Facebook and Instagram at TracySews.

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