Every now and then, you come across a fabric that’s just SO perfect for the season. My mom picked this floral beauty out and insisted I make a maxi dress of sorts. Well…you’re wish is my command!

Pattern & Construction:

This dress is a mashup of Simplicity 1873 (bodice) and McCall’s M7121 (skirt) with some slight alterations to both. For the bodice, I brought the shoulders in to make the straps a little thinner.

The skirt pattern calls for a seam at the front, which I removed. Rather than trim the sides of the skirt to make the waist fit (it’s a big large as it was meant to be an elastic waist), I made pleats at the front and back which lined up with the darts on the bodice. I also left the skirt to hang over night before I stitched it so it could drop. The next day, I laid it out with the pattern and re-trimmed it. I find this method much easier than stitching it all together, letting it drop and THEN trimming it.

Tip: When using such light & flowy material like this, I would suggest using a smaller length stitch. I used length #2 instead of the usual 3 to make sure the darts & bodice sides held together clean and nicely. 

Material:

In all honesty, I’m not too sure what sort of fabric this is but it is so incredibly lightweight and flowy. And at $4/m I couldn’t go wrong! It really is perfect for a summer day. And even better is that it hardly wrinkles! I’ve stuffed this in a bag over night several times and pulled it out basically wrinkle free…now if only I could remember exactly what material this is…womp womp…

Belt:

To make the belt, I put iron-on interfacing on the fabric and wrapped it around some belting I had lying around. To hold it in place, I used iron-on hem tape. And to create the loops for the buckle, I simply made very tiny button holes.

Inside:

I decided not to include a lining under this dress for two reasons:

  1. I wanted this make to be quick & easy. Adding a lining would have taken longer and I know I would have lost the fun in making this!
  2. I wanted this dress to feel super lightweight on the body. A lining would have bulked it up and taken away from the weight I was going for.
Final Thoughts:

I cannot even tell you how much I love this dress! I was having a bit of a crappy day but putting this together really turned my mood around! In my opinion, this is such a perfect dress for a summer date night or vacation. I would love to see what you think of my latest make. Leave your thoughts below!

xo!

Sharadha

Photos: Bright Osei-Agyeman


DIY Floral Summer Maxi www.SweetShard.com DIY Floral Summer Maxi www.SweetShard.com

7 Comments

  1. It’s awesome. You look amazing! And how lucky to have a photographer friend to help take awesome photos!

  2. Beautiful dress and fabric! Where did your mom find this gorgeous fabric?

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