DIY - The Convertible Infinity Dress

I haven't sewn for awhile and was having the itchy fingers to start making something. Some of the blogs I frequent were discussing this infinity dress that can be worn a million different ways (Over exaggerating again). I was curious so I started following some of the links which have me ending up on the original blogger and tutorial of this dress: http://rowena.typepad.com/rostitchery/infinity-dress.html.  Her instructions are pretty easy and her mocks up seems reasonable to follow. Besides, it is made of knit jersey and claims to take only 1-2 hours. I can do that. Yes. I can.

Source

Before I set out to tackle this dress, I googled the web to see if others have attempted this dress. Behold, the 139 pages forum dated back to 2006: http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=104089.0.  After skimming through the first 40 pages or so, I set out to make this dress.

First stop was Joann's fabric. I found myself a knit jersey fabric in dark blue. I considered using a black knit since black is so forgiving on everyone but I quickly change my mind since I already own a lot of black dresses.  At $3.99 a yard, a little over 3 yards (took the remaining of the bolt), and a 40% coupon found in their ads available at the front entrance, I paid about $6.50 for this project. Sounds like a steal for a quick project I would say!

Following the instructions in the original tutorial, I cut out the circle skirt that measured about 22 in. long, waist band about 4 in. wide and 30 in. long, and the straps which was 8.5 in. wide and 70 in. long. I didn't think I would need straps longer than that since I was afraid all that extra fabric would make the dress look bulky. I've encountered some issues during the process of this project and are sharing it with you all in case you want to try making this dress.

Lessons learned:

• Consider the stretch of the fabric - I cut the circle skirt based on the measurement of my waist / divide by 3.14 / and divide that by 2 but the knit fabric end up stretching and making the circle to big.  I recommend cutting a smaller circle and see if it would fit over your wasit. If it doesn't, you can slowly cut and make a bigger circle.

•  Actual Fullness of the skirt - After trying on the dress, I felt the fullness of the circle skirt made me look bigger and or how the man of the house said it,  I look pregnant. If I decide to make another dress like this, I would consider using a half circle skirt or an a-line skirt to slim down the volume of the dress. 

Saving the best for last, pictures of the final product and some of the different styles I thought was wearable for my body type. 

Straps & Knots

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You probably wouldn't believe how much these dresses are running for in retail stores. I provided some links to these retail dresses for your viewing pleasure.

Victoria Secrets: Flirty Convertible Dress
Two Birds Bridesmaid: The Dress