Quick and Adorable Babydoll Summer Dress DIY

Tools and materials:

• Fabric
• Elastic band
• Measuring tape
• Scissors
• Pins
• Safety pin
• Sewing machine

Create the pattern

I used this very simple pattern to cut the material for the dress. Make sure to alter the top corner measurements to fit your own bust size. 

Hem

I started by hemming the top edges of both panels. To hem the diagonal edges, I folded them twice to hide the raw edges. I only folded the long edges once, since they will be used to make tunnels for the straps, so they will be folded in again later. Once everything was folded and pinned, I sewed the hems down.  

Fold and sew

Then I folded the top edge in again to create a tunnel for the strap, pinned it, and sewed it down as close to the edge as possible. 

Pin and sew

Next, I laid my panels together, right sides facing each other, pinned them along only one side, and sewed them down. 

Sew

Once the side seam was sewn, I finished the edge of the seam allowance with a zigzag stitch to prevent fraying. 

Measure and cut

To make the casing for the elastic below my bust, I measured out and cut a strip of fabric that was 4 centimeters (1½ inches) wide, and as long as the circumference of my dress.

Fold and sew

I folded 1 centimeter (½ an inch) down along the top and bottom edges of the strip and sewed them down. 

Measure and cut

I measured out how much elastic I would need by wrapping the elastic band so it fits comfortably around me right below the bust, and cutting at that point. 

Pin and sew

With the wrong sides of the fabric facing each other, I pinned the casing to the dress right below the bust area, and sewed it down along the top and bottom edges, as close to the edges as possible. 

Next, I pinned and sewed the second side seam. While doing this, ensure that you do not sew down the openings to the elastic casing, otherwise, you will not be able to run the elastic through. Once the seam was sewn, I zigzag stitched the raw edges, as well. 

Insert elastic and sew 

I used a safety pin attached to one end of the elastic band to run it through the casing. Once I pulled it all the way through the casing, I zigzag stitched the ends of the elastic together, and then sewed the ends of the casing together, as well. 

Create a strap

To create a strap that will run through the tunnels along the top edges of the front and the back of the dress, I cut one very long strip, folded in the raw edges, and sewed it down along the open edge. 

Insert strap

I attached a safety pin to one end of the strap and ran it through the tunnels on both the front and the back of the dress. 

Try on and sew

Once the strap was in, I tried on the dress to see how big I needed the straps to be for the dress to fit properly. I pinned the strap at that point, sewed it down, and cut off the excess fabric. Then I adjusted the strap so the seam on the strap was hidden inside one of the tunnels.

Hem

After that, all that was left to do was to hem the bottom edge with a rolled hem, and my two-hour emergency summer dress was complete!

I hope you enjoyed this basic summer dress tutorial. This dress is so cool and comfortable, and I am so in love with the print on this fabric. If this has inspired you to make a DIY summer dress of your own, I’d love to see the fabrics you use and your final results.