Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Infinity Dress

Summer's just about here, and since I'll be heading back to SoCal for a friend's wedding (as well as visiting a few other friends), I'm in dire need for clothing suitable for the warm weather. Jersey is one of my absolute favorite fabrics ever - it's versatile, soft and comfy. And since I'm currently unable to splurge on a whole new summer wardrobe, making my own clothes is basically my only option.

That's why I'm super-thankful for Rostichery's Infinity Dress tutorial. This type of dress has been around since the 1970s and offers a seemingly endless number of styles in one. The construction of the dress is very basic, with a circle skirt and two long straps that you wrap around yourself in various fashions. Rowena's tutorial walks you step-by-step on getting the proper measurements, which can be found in her FAQs near the top of the article.

I went to Jo-Ann's to get some 60" wide jersey fabric in a gorgeous eggplant purple. I intended on making my dress full-length. Unfortunately, all they had of it was just under 5 yards (I needed 5.75 yds). So some altering will be needed.

After cutting out the two straps, There wasn't enough width to cut out two half circles, let alone a full-circle. To keep the flowiness of the skirt, I made the hemline about 51" wide (per side) and had to divide the back panel in half to accomodate what fabric I had. I haven't sewn with jersey in a while, so it was kinda tricky stitching the pieces together without the fabric puckering at the seams. I lacked a roller or walker foot so I had to run back to Jo-Anns to get them.

I still need to do some minor alterations to said garment before my trip, but I'm quite satisfied with how it turned out. Forgive my headlessness in the pic - I was having a bad hair day. Regardless, I am in LOVE with the Infinity Dress and even bought more jersey fabric (with just enough yardage, luckily!) in teal.

2 comments:

tera said...

The eggplant is lovely. I wish I could sew, I have seen this dress (or similar ones) a number of times, but I am worthless with sewing machine!

MJ Rojas said...

Thanks, Tera! I've read that some of the women have taken their sketched out measurements and fabric to a seamstress to make their infinity dresses. :)