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The dress dyed.

I can't stand using patterns because I don't like people telling me what to do.

So, that's how I found myself with a page torn out of a catalog that showed a dress I thought was beautiful that I decided to attempt to mimic using cheap men's white cotton T-shirts and a wing and a prayer.

First, I bought some three packages of T-shirts: 2x, XL, and L. I cut them into thick rings; the shirts don't have seams and that's one reason I used them. Also, because they are 100% cotton, the really sop of the dye and take the color very well.

Then I had to figure out the dye baths. To make the colors gradually shift from a rich scarlet color up to an almost skin tone was tricky. Using rit dyes in scarlet, purple, blue, orange, brown, and wine, and also a little tweaking with watering colors down, I managed to somewhat capture the gradual effect (though not flawlessly). Let me tell you, that was an entire afternoon's worth of work, and was exhausting. Dyeing material requires a lot of hot water and back strain. I washed the dyed strips of cloth and then dried them.

Next, I sewed the rings together, in the order that I dyed them. I wanted the rough edge to overlap on the top of the strip. I also double sewed the seams just in case a seam popped during wear; that would be a little catastrophic, if a part of the dress started to come apart and fall off. I used a kind of zig-zag stitch that is meant for knit; it provides a little give and doesn't break with stretching (as often happens with T-shirts that are hemmed with a regular straight stitch). It took a little longer to sew using the stitch, but the final result was a lot of stretchiness, which was good.

At this point, I had a variegated tube of material. Here's where I wish I had a dress form... I put the tube on over my head, used a wash-away sewing pen, and began making marks to where things like arm holes, neck holes, etc should be.

The tube was huge, by the way. I'd seriously over-estimated how big I was. This meant I ended up doing a lot of wrapping and top-stitching and using darts and such to get it to fit my form. It was really tricky and I have no directions for you other than stand in front of the mirror, wrap and pin, and then carefully take off and sew. It took quite a few try-ons, pinnings, and a few sections that had to be taken in...but finally I had a less tubular shape and a more fitted garment. I also sewed two strips of medium-width elastic into the underside of two of the stripe seams in the back. This helped with fitting it, as well as provide a gathered effect on the back which helps to hide my huge rear-end.

Yeah.

The dress on the model from the magazine is much more attractive, and made from a lot nicer material. But, for a non-sewer and a person who refuses to start with a patter...I think it ended up OK. It'll make a nice summer dress.

Anyway, here is the final product: Front of Dress | Back of dress

Note: This post was pre-written and published as scheduled. Read more about this here.