darling dress in 20 minutes (made from a tote bag!)

Last week I shared a whole pile of dresses that I made for Pi last summer. This dress was part of that lineup, but also comes with the easiest make-your-own directions ever, so I thought I’d share them. But let me back up- when I saw this darling romper (that Miranda made from a fabric tote bag!), I ordered a couple of gorgeous, marbled bags that same afternoon. I ended up getting a medium one and a large one, intending to make two different sizes of rompers (clearly).

But when they arrived, I realized that the large actually was perfectly Piper-dress-sized, and 20 minutes later a Piper dress was sewn up and finished.

Because this bag is essentially a dress already, it is such an easy project. To transform, I clipped the sleeve ‘ties,’ removed the Bohem label with a seam ripper and also seam ripped the bottom open.

I turned the side seam into the center of the back of the dress (there is only one seam) and pressed in place. I added one box pleat in the front by pressing in place and then stitching across the top edge right below the already-in-place top stitching (being careful not sew over that- it became the top ‘casing’ in a second).

Then I picked open the top of the back seam, threaded 20″ of elastic through the top ‘casing’ (I got that measurement from Piper’s chest, minus a few inches, and should add that she is super skinny!), and then added chambray ties to the ends of the elastic to make the back bow.

Now I just need to find a bunch more fabric tote bags that are about the right size to make a whole pile of these!

Isn’t it the cutest? The back bow kills me (and is Piper’s favorite part).

Also, we took all the dress pictures in Saipan right the week before we moved back stateside, and my heart physically hurts looking at them. It’s such a weird feeling to be so very thankful for the new life God has provided here in New Braunfels and still miss Saipan so much. Have any of you had a move like this? Any tips for navigating the crazy swing of emotions?