A Snappy Belt

A sewing post at last - I have so many projects that I've made that I don't even know where to start with catching up, but I decided that I should start with the dress I'm wearing today!  This dress started out in my mad dash to sew everything before a friend's wedding in Georgia in early May.  I think I cut it out, and then smartly realized it wasn't going to happen, so it just sat there for a while until I picked it back up in late May.  

I was originally inspired by this adorable dress from Anthropologie, which I was half-tempted to buy, because I also loved the fabric, but just couldn't stomach paying $170 for what is a super simple tank dress.

I especially loved the belt detail, and figured I could make that too:

I didn't have a fun animal print in my stash, but I did have this fun geometric print stable knit, which I thought would have a similar impact.  As typical, it came from one of my favorite places to get fabric, Emma One Sock.  Funnily enough, she currently has a similar cheetah print in stock to the inspiration dress and it's tempting me dreadfully to break my fabric shopping ban!

It's been a while, so the details are a bit fuzzy, but this was a bit of a figure-it-out-as-I-go project, which could charitably be called self-drafted, I guess.  I started with my basic self-drafted knit tank pattern, and basically added several inches in the center, for the gathering (identical for front and back.  I gathered both pieces until it was a good fit, then added binding first to the front and back, covering the gathering, and then added binding to the sides, extending it up to make the straps.  And that's all for the dress folks!  I didn't even hem it, using the selvedge instead, thinking I may shorten it at some point.  

The part that makes this dress fun and different though is the belt.  I was debating between using 1" and 2" elastic, but once I tested them both out, the 2" definitely won out.  The inspiration belt is a bit more gathered than mine, but it was looking sloppy in my fabric, so I made my fabric cover to fit the elastic perfectly.

My procedure was as follows:

• Made a tube out of my fabric that was the perfect width to fit my elastic.  This was made easier by my fabric, which is a stable knit, so while not super stretchy, does has some stretch to it.
• Inserted the elastic, and folded the ends of the fabric tube inside, and then sewed them shut.  Not the neatest finish, but it was quick and easy.
• Attached the snaps.  I was a little nervous, because I haven't done that in a while, but it turned out well!  I was debating on black versus silver, but I think the black stand out a bit more and fit the style.

 

 Without further ado, here you go!