DIY Racerback Maxi Dress

Hi guys! I have another super quick and easy DIY dress to share with you. I love it so much that I couldn't resist sharing a sneak peek last week on Instagram. I really love this dress and can't wait to wear it out this week. First off, it combines two of my favorite colors, coral and navy. Next, it's made from a super comfortable knit fabric, making it oh-so-easy to wear.

To create the pattern, I actually traced this dress that I bought at Target a few weeks ago. If you don't feel like sewing one yourself, it's on sale now for just $18. All I did was lay out my fabric, put the dress on top and then trace around with chalk, adding about a 1/2 inch seam allowance.

To make the binding for the neck and armholes, I fussy cut the stripes so that when folded, only the navy part would show. Clever right? I've found that when cutting binding for knit garments, it's easiest to cut a strip longer than I think I need. Then, baste it to the garment, testing how much is needed. Then I cut away the excess and permanently stitch it down. Does that make sense? I've ended up with too short bindings too often so now I just cut it extra long and test it.

The dress is long and narrow, extending almost to the floor. To make walking possible, there's a slit on one side of the skirt from the floor to the knee.

Of course the real star of any racerback garment is the back. It's kind of sporty and kind of sexy and really fun to wear. And in case you're wondering about bras–and if you're a busty gal like I am, I'm sure that it's your first thought with any non-basic top–let me give you a shopping tip! There are converters to turn a standard bra into a racerback but if you're going to wear the style frequently then I think a racerback bra is in order. At first I bought one at Target for about $15. Then I went to TJMaxx and found a brand-name one for only about $10. Score! So check out the discount stores first because you might just find something of higher quality at a lower price.