DIY Beach Cover Up

Hi everyone! I wish I had done this post earlier since summer is almost over but I figured I'd still share it with you. This is meant to be a beach cover up dress, but I might wear it around the house too, since it's soo comfy!

Materials:
- 1.5 yards of fabric (I used Jersey! The amount also varies on how tight/loose you want your cover up to be.)
- Shears
- Needle and thread



 

Steps:

1. Measure your fabric by wrapping it around your body! Then lay it out on the floor and cut! I left an extra half inch just incase, but that's up to you! You can use measuring tape or pins as tools too.








2. Fold your fabric in half and cut an "arm hole" on both sides of your beach cover up!




3. From your extra fabric, cut two strips from it. These are going to be the straps for your beach cover up! There are two ways I tried for a strap detail. You can braid your strap, which will mean you'll need to cut it into three more strips, or.... you can twist it!

 



 4. Now sew on your straps around the "arm holes" you cut out! I did a bunch of stitches to make sure it's sturdy!

 



5. Try on your new beach cover up! Just simply put your arm through one strap, wrap it around from fron to back and pull it onto the other arm. My straps were a little long, so I used some extra fabric and tied the straps together in a racerback shape. Congratualtions on finishing this project!



What I've learned:

- Buy extra fabric, just incase!
- If you want braided straps, cut three thick strips to braid. The tighter the braid the skinnier it gets!
- Don't worry if you're fabric seems short, it's supposed to be open back and it'll be longer once you try it on!




This is probably the easiest "dress" I'll probably ever make. It was so easy that I'll probably make more in different colors and patterns! I hope you guys like this DIY and maybe make one when spring/summer comes around again!


Keep on crafting!


Alison

 

 



DIY Tank Top

I have a whole bunch of old tee shirts so I thought I'd try and make some of them more wearable, instead of only wearing them to sleep! This was a super easy project and although my first attempt did not come out as great as I would have liked, I have plenty of other shirts to practice on. Read on to see what I did!

Materials:

- Old tee shirt

- Scissors

I started off by cutting the sleeves off and then collar part of the shirt. This is where you can really customize the look and fit of your soon-to-be tank top. I decided to go with a V-neck and thinner straps. Then, I cut off the bottom hem of the shirt all the way around. Keep in mind, you will need this part in the next step so try and cut it evenly! (I didn't do that great of a job heh)

Now flip your shirt over and take the long hemmed piece you just cut off and wrap it around the two straps. This will give it a racerback look. I wrapped about a 3 inch section, but this part is totally up to you! I ended mine with a small tied bow, but I know others have knotted it in different ways.

And.... your done! Try it on and check it out! Here's the front of mine:

And here's the back (I'm wearing a bandeau underneath):

What I've learned:

- Try on your shirt throughout the process to make sure you like the cut

- Do your best to cut clean, straight lines! (I'm going to do a better job with this next time)

This DIY tank would be great for wearing tot he gym, or on a lazy weekend or even casual events where you have to wear some kind of tee shirt. I wish I knew about this in college when I had all of those fundraising, student group and organization events.... could have made my shirt fun and pretty!

I hope you try this and let me know what you think!