How to sew a raglan tee maxi dress | sewing tutorial

In today's post: Learn how to plough a t-shirt design into a maxi apparel with this sewing tutorial.

Hey guys! This dress has probably been one of my favorite items of clothing I've ever made for myself and so I decided to pull information technology out of the sewing athenaeum and share it again today. I made it 3 years ago and information technology nevertheless gets regular wear. I LOVE maxi dresses because they're comfortable and versatile (without being too dressy). But I particularly lovethis maxi clothes – turns out that equally each year passes my waistline gets a little harder to detect ? so the stretchy waistband on this clothes is one of those gifts that keeps on giving!

I fabricated this maxi apparel using a free t-shirt pattern and adding on a stretchy waistband and a brim. The free design I used is only available in women'south size Large, but you should be able to follow forth with any tee pattern than fits you well.

Similar all maxi dresses, this one is crazy comfortable. But it as well feels a bit dressier than the other maxi dresses I've sewn, fifty-fifty though information technology's essentially a raglan tee shirt with a skirt attached.

This tutorial requires moderate swing skills and volition likely exist also involved for an absolute beginner. I mean it'southward still a pretty easy sew that basically involves sewing a tee and a skirt and connecting them in the middle, and so if you've sewn tees and skirts before, don't be intimidated. But there are a few pieces and dimensions to effigy out in the cutting phase, then if you haven't sewn much before, you might want to start with something simpler, like this easy tee maxi.

For this maxi dress you'll demand about 3.v yards of knit fabric (I actually managed to clasp mine out of 3 yards, using just about every fleck of textile, but I'm brusque). That's a fiddling more textile than I usually employ on ane project, since I'one thousand so cheap, but I really honey how it turned out. It'southward comfortable enough to wear whenever, but dressy enough to wearable out. Worth the material investment in my stance.

I used this charcoal greyness cotton wool lycra jersey from Raspberry Creek Cloth and I dearest it! Information technology's super soft, virtually silky feeling, just non as well glace when you run up. Really a wonderful knit from a great shop with excellent customer service.

Brand certain y'all wash and dry your textile before you start cutting anything out. For the bodice of the apparel, I used my free raglan tee pattern in size L, which you can download. Or you can learn how to draft your own in a different size here.

Please notation that I've updated my raglan design since I created this tutorial, so the pattern pieces look slightly different than the ones you see below. Print out and tape together the pattern as directed in the raglan tee mail service. And so effigy out where your natural waist would hit on the pattern, and cut information technology off an inch or 2 below your natural waist.

Here's how to cut out the bodice and sleeves. Fold your material in half with stretch going side to side, matching the selvedge edges. Place the bodice pattern on the fold and cut out (this will be the forepart). And then flip the bodice design over and place it near the selvedges and cut out again, adding i/ii an inch to the straight edge equally shown below. This will be the back. Use the fabric in betwixt the bodice pieces to cut out the sleeves equally shown below (basically, you are cutting the sleeves on the fold and then yous accept 2 sleeve pieces instead of iv half sleeve pieces).

Here's what all those pieces wait like once they are cut out:

With the remaining textile, you desire to cut skirt pieces, waistband pieces, and neckbinding. What yous come across below shows one skirt piece, cutting on the fold. You lot need two of them, i for the front and i for the dorsum. My brim pieces were each about 24 inches wide at the summit, angling out to 50 inches wide at the bottom, and approximately 42 inches long. If yous have three.v yards of material instead of only 3, you could make your skirt pieces a bit longer.

You lot also need 4 waistband pieces: each should be 1.5 inches high and as wide as the lesser of your bodice pieces. Finally, you need a strip for the neckbinding that's one.75 inches high and near 24 inches long. It'southward all-time to cut these pieces out side to side because they demand to stretch along the length; however, I didn't have plenty cloth to do that then I cutting all of these pieces up and down on my fabric. It works since the fabric I'm using has 4-style stretch. If your knit only stretches side to side, these pieces must exist cutting out side to side.

Ok, getting all the pieces cutting out actually is the hardest function. The sewing is like shooting fish in a barrel! Start past placing the back bodice pieces right sides together and sewing down the straight border, so the back bodice looks just like the forepart, except with a seam down the middle.

And so you'll sew together upward the acme but like you would any raglan tee. Check out this post for step by pace instructions. Endeavor information technology on and make certain it fits how you like. I wanted the top of my dress to be fairly fitted, so I took in the side seams a flake, as shown below.

Now yous can ready the tee portion aside, and grab your waistband pieces. You will also need plenty 1.5 inch wide rubberband to go around your waist. Sew the ends of the elastic together and attempt it on. It should be adequately snug around your natural waist and so it's tight enough to agree up the skirt, but not uncomfortable.

You have 4 waistband pieces. Place ii right sides together and stitch together the short ends to make a loop the same size as the rubberband. Echo with the other two pieces.

Place one knit waistband loop inside the elastic; identify the other one outside the rubberband. Pivot all three layers together.

Now catch your skirt pieces. Place the right sides together and sew together down the sides.

Use pins to carve up the waistband into 8 equal sections. Utilize pins to divide the top of the brim into viii equal sections. Turn the skirt correct side out, and place the waistband over the top of the skirt. Lucifer up the pins and pin the waistband to the skirt. Since the tiptop of the skirt is wider than the waistband, it will be all bunched upward. As you sew the waistband onto the skirt, stretch information technology until the skirt piece lies flat. Sew the waistband and skirt together with a sew that will stretch: I used a serger stitch, merely you tin besides use a zigzag or stretch stitch. Stitch close to the edge, using one/iv inch seam allowance.

Flip the waistband up, and the skirt volition await similar the 2nd photo above.

Now it'south time to try on the tee piece and the skirt piece together. Constrict the tee into the skirt and pull the skirt up until it'south at your natural waist (or wherever you lot experience is most flattering). Mark where it hits on the tee piece with pins.

Trim the tee slice if needed and then it is 1/4 inch longer than where you lot pinned.

Now you'll adhere the tee to the waistband. Turn the tee right side out and the skirt within out. Marker each in eight places, simply similar you did when attaching the skirt to the waistband. Slide the tee inside the skirt and match up the raw border with the raw edge of the waistband.

Pin together and sew, pulling the waistband until the tee lies flat under the presser foot. Again use a sew together that volition stretch and one/four inch seam allowance.

Hither's what the waistband looks like from the within with both skirt and tee attached:

And from the outside:

At present you tin attach the neckbinding as described in this mail and hem the sleeves. Earlier hemming the bottom, information technology's a good idea to put the dress on and accept someone else measure an inch up from the flooring and marking with pins all the manner around. Use this as your hemline to ensure the hem looks even when you wear the dress. I always utilize a double needle to hem knits.

Once the hem is complete, your new maxi wearing apparel is done!

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Source: https://www.itsalwaysautumn.com/raglan-tee-maxi-dress-sewing-tutorial.html