Our youngest daughter and I went a while ago to Holland Stoffenhuis in Leiden. I was looking for lining for my Fashion Style blazer. They hadn’t the lining I was looking for but our daughter found a coupon that was 1.40 meter long that she liked. She asked me if I could make a Summer  Homemade basic T-shirt dress out of it with an exposed zipper.  She has a few of this dress types in het wardrobe that she loves to wear.  Who can refuse such a request? Not me so after paying the coupon it was in her bag.

Easy Sewing Homemade Basic T-shirt dress 

Pattern for a basic T-shirt dress

At her home I took the tape measurements and took her sizes. In my previous blogpost I told you about all kinds of tutorials that can be found on the internet. There are also some great youtube video’s too. You don’t like drafting? No problem. Here are some examples of commercial pdf sewing patterns. The KNIPmode eenvoudige strandjurk (€4,95), Named Inari Tee Dress (€13.00) and Colette Mesa ($12,00).

Easy Sewing Homemade Basic T-shirt dress 

I decided to draft a pattern. There are always alterations to make a good fit. In the time that the pattern is ordered, printed and assembled I can draft such a basic T-shirt dress pattern. Back home I picked the roll of dressmaking paper and started drafting a made to measure basic T-shirt dress.

Easy Sewing Homemade Basic T-shirt dress 

the fabric

This fabric has a kind a of relief, is firm and has stretch with horizontal lines and small vertical little lines. The colours are offwhite, dark blue and red. Sadly there was no ticket on the coupon so I do no what materials are used to make this fabric. I also tried to find this type on their webshop as well but didn’t find it.

Easy Sewing Homemade Basic T-shirt dress 

Cutting and sewing the dress

I didn’t add seam allowances when I drafted the dress. The big advantage is that I can add the desired seam allowances. It can depend on the type of fabric I’m using. My seam allowances for this dress are 2 centimeters for all seams, armholes and sleeve 1 centimeter and hem 3 centimeter. After cutting the dress was basted. This was done on a regular sewing machine with contrast yarn and the largest stitch. The dress was fitted.

Easy Sewing Homemade Basic T-shirt dress 

She wanted a more fitting waist and also a lower neckline.  After taking the dress apart the new waistline and neckline were drafted. At the same time the facings to finish the neckline were also drafted. After locking and before sewn the dress together the zipper was made in the back of the dress. This dress has also flat seams just like her early made pencil skirts.

Easy Sewing Homemade Basic T-shirt dress 

Time and Costs:

Time: pattern drafting 1 hour; cutting 45 minutes; basting and alterations 1 hour; stitching and finishing 6 hours
Costs: fabric € 5,00; yarn € 3,00; zipper € 2,50; interfacing € 0,50

Our daughter and her new Easy Sewing Homemade Basic T-shirt dress

She is very happy with her new Summer dress and loves the exposed red zipper. The stripes are running trough. Although it takes extra time while cutting and sewing but I donut mind doing that. The result is worth doing so. Our daughter was so happy with her new dress that she wanted another one.

Easy Sewing Homemade Basic T-shirt dress 

Two weeks ago we went back to the Holland Stoffenhuis and she found not one but three new fabrics. Guess were I’m sitting the next few weeks. My lessons while I made this dress?  Mark added seam allowances on the pattern for later makes, mark alterations carefully on the pattern and draft facings after you’ve done all the alterations.

4 Comments on Easy Sewing Homemade Basic T-shirt dress 

  1. Yes, that red zip is fabulous, as is the dress. It is a testament to your epic skills that she immediately wanted more of these and I can’t wait to see them!

    • Thank you. Well this type of the dress is so basic but still need to fit perfect. The red zipper is a great feature. When your garment fits perfect it’s always fives you more confidence. Sewing for others is such a joy and so satisfying (you know that as well). Have some patience because I need to prewash the fabrics first.

Leuk dat je de tijd nam om mijn bericht te lezen. Ik hoor graag wat je er van vond. Thank you for taking the time reading this blogpost and taking the time to write a comment for this post. I really do appreciate it.

Deze site gebruikt Akismet om spam te verminderen. Meer informatie over hoe uw reactiegegevens worden verwerkt.