DIY OFF THE SHOULDER DRESS TUTORIAL

New sewing tutorial! I will show you how to make an off the shoulder dress with ruffle sleeves. The dress is perfect for the summer, it is comfy, it has ruffles and it is feminine looking which was the main goal. In the beginning, I was not super excited about the color and fabric choice but now I'm glad that the dress is made with this fabric. It is also the first dress that is made for my sewing challenge which I talked about in my previous post here. You can find the sewing pattern for this diy off the shoulder dress right here.

YOU NEED
Sewing machine
Serger (optional)
Marker
Sewing pins
Scissors
Elastic
Ruler

HOW TO

Prepping
To begin, prep all your panel pieces by cutting notches in each panel piece, then draw guidelines on the wrong side of the fabric, where those notches are placed for the elastic placement, do this on the sleeve and bodice. Measure the elastic band around the waist, wrist, shoulders and mid arm. Cut the desired length off

Step 1
Sew the top and bottom sleeve panels together with the right sides facing then serge the bottom raw edge and the seam allowance. If you do not have a serger use a zigzag stitch on your sewing machine. A how to finish raw edges with a zigzag stitch here.

Step 2

Sew the (wrist) elastic band on the guideline and the (mid-arm) elastic underneath the sleeve seam allowance with a zigzag stitch. The elastic will gather the ruffles in the fabric naturally.

Step 3
Hem the bottom edge sleeve, then close off the sides of the sleeve.

Step 4
Next up is the bodice, sew the side seams of the front and back bodice together with a straight stitch.

Step 5

Attach the sleeves onto the bodice. Match up the bodice side seam with the sleeve seam, then pin and sew. After that you finish the raw edges of the armhole then you can hem the neckline with a double or single fold.

Step 6

Now you can attach the skirt onto the bodice. Once you have attached the pieces together serge the waist seam allowance and the raw edge of the skirt if you're planning to do a single fold.

Step 7

Secure both ends of the remaining elastic bands with a zigzag stitch then divide the elastic into quarters. This can be done with sewing pins or with a washable marker.

 Step 8
Repeat the same step by dividing the waist seam and the shoulder guideline into quarters.

Step 9
Attach both elastic bands on the dress, while you're sewing stretch out the elastic so that it matches the same width of the part that you're sewing.

Step 10
For the final step finish the hem of the skirt by doing a single or a double fold.

If you have questions about this tutorial leave it in the comment. Also, let me know what you think of this off the shoulder dress tutorial and feel free to pin all photos on Pinterest.