A Dress with SPF

 Hello Readers. It is summer but the sun is not my friend. I try to wear sunscreen everyday. I try to stay in the shade. I try to avoid the sun as much as I can. But I can't avoid it forever. I had this wrap with SPF in the fabric. It was great but maybe it could be more useful to be a dress? 

 Before and after.  

This was such a pretty pink and it had 50 SPF.  

It was a great wrap skirt but I thought it would make a fabulous beach dress. 

I folded the wrap into quarters. That will let me cut the neckline and sides and it would be symmetrical when I was done. 

 

You can see the cuts I made while the wrap was folded. I made a loose boxy shape. I cut an angles shape on the sides to make the skirt shape. And I saved those scrap pieces for later. 

 

I sewed the sides together with right sides facing each other. This made a very simple dress shape. That will work to throw on over a bathing suit.  

You can see the cut edge of the neckline here. I wanted to finish that neckline, that is what those scraps are for. 

 

I had 4 scraps left from when I cut out the dress shape. 

 

I used a yard stick as a straight edge. I marked along the fabric with a pencil. I wanted a 1/2 inch strip of this pink fabric. I wanted the hemmed edge as my neck binding. 

 

I cut out my strips and followed the pencil marks. 

 

I sewed this strip of fabric to the neck opening. I sewed with the right sides together. 

 

After the neck band was sewn in place, I went back over the neck binding and top stitched it so it would lay flat. 

 

This dress is loose and great in the heat at the beach or pool. I love the pink color and this dress is easier to wear for me than the wrap was. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Vintage" Beachwear

 Hello Readers. I put the word "vintage in quotes in the title because this is obviously not really vintage. I did think this outfit had a vintage vibe to it though. It turned out great and it was perfect for the beach too. Let me show you how I turned this dress into a beach ensemble. 

Before and after. 

This dress was pretty but a bit short in the skirt. That was OK, I had plan for this dress. Those waist ties would come in handy. They would help me with my new outfit. 

I started taking it apart. I used a seam ripper to open up the waist seam. I wanted the top of the dress to be separate from the skirt. 

It took a few minutes but I got the top away from the skirt. I also wanted to remove the waist ties. I wanted to relocate the waist tie.

 

I opened the side seam to get these waist ties off. Then I sewed the ends together to make one long piece.
 

Once I had the ties out I had to sew the side seam shut again.

 

I sewed the back of the top together. This dress had enough stretch to pull the top over my head.
 

I clipped the waist tie to the bottom of the top. I wanted to sew the waist tie/belt to the bottom of the top. It would make the top look finished at the bottom. It would also tie in back to keep the top in place. 

After sewing the waist tie on the top it made the top a bit longer and gave me a way to tie the top in the back. I can pull it over my head and tie the bow in the back. The bow gives the top a secure fit.

I used the skirt to cut out a pair of shorts. The hem of the skirt would be the hem of the shorts. This will make this a quick sewing project. 

I sewed the 2 pieces of the shorts together. 

I sewed the elastic waistband on the outside of the shorts. 

Then I turned the elastic up...

 

It could stay like this. The navy blue looks nice. 

 

I decided to turn the elastic into the shorts. 

 

 I stitched the elastic and fabric of the shorts together. This would keep the elastic inside the shorts. I just wanted the flowers to show.

 

Here is my new beach outfit. I took this outfit and went to the beach. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.