DIY Denim Dress

The Designerquipo
by The Designerquipo
7 Materials
$15
3 Hours
Medium




A good denim dress is timeless! It was time for me to make myself a gorgeous, new denim dress and I decided to make it strapless. Rather than go out to buy fabric, I upcycled a few pairs of jeans I already had. After a little work, I had the perfect, strapless denim dress!



Tools and materials:

  • Denim jeans/denim fabric
  • Measuring tape
  • Tailor’s chalk
  • Scissors
  • Pins
  • Zipper
  • Sewing machine
DIY strapless denim dress


For this DIY denim dress, I used three pairs of denim jeans. You can also use any scrap denim you have sitting at home. 

Take measurements


Take measurements 

Next, I drew a rough sketch of the dress I would be making and wrote down all the measurements I would need. For this project, I measured my chest, bust and waist, and hip. I also wrote down my bust to waist measurement and my waist to the bottom of the dress measurement. I took all of my measurements and divided them by four.

Strapless denim bodycon dress


Cut the bodice pieces 

I started by cutting the denim I would need for the bodice of my dress. I measured 9 inches from the bottom of one leg and cut it off. 

Seam rip the side


I then seam ripped open one side of the denim piece. I did the same on the second leg so that I would have two identical pieces of denim. 

Strapless denim mini dress


Cut the skirt pieces 

I also cut off the remaining leg pieces and opened them up on one side. I would use these to make the bottom of my dress. 

Sew the front bodice pieces

Sew the front bodice pieces 

To make the bust section for the bodice, I used the bra technique. 

Sew along the pinned line


Once I had the shape pinned, I sewed along that pinned line. 

Sew a strapless denim dress


Sew the dress together 

For the dress, I had one piece for the bottom at the back and two for the front because I would add a zipper down the middle. I laid down the front two pieces and placed the bust pieces on top, right sides together. I then went ahead and sewed at the waist. 

Cut excess fabric


After sewing, I went ahead and cut off any excess fabric.

Sew the sides


Next, I placed the back bodice pieces on the front piece, right sides together, and sewed the side seams together. 

Sew on the back skirt piece


I also took the back bottom piece and sewed it to the front pieces by joining the side seams. 

How to sew a strapless denim dress


Next, I sewed the back bodice pieces onto the back skirt pieces and made sure that everything was neatly sewn together except, of course, for the center front. 

Make a strapless denim dress


Attach the zipper 

I went ahead and pinned and sewed a zipper down the front of the dress. In this step, I was careful to make sure that the waistline on each side lined up. All I had left to do was hem the bottom of the dress which I did by double folding the fabric and sewing. 

How to make a strapless denim dress


I think this strapless denim dress is so cute! What other denim upcycle ideas do you have? Let me know in the comments! 

Suggested materials:
  • Jeans
  • Measuring tape
  • Tailor's chalk
See all materials

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