Want a sewing project perfect for the warmer months? Look no further than this tutorial for a fashionable and stylish mini wrap dress! We decided to document the exact steps we took to make this gorgeous canary-yellow mini wrap dress made with our +HAyu fabric, 100% cotton double gauze with adorable embroidered dogs.
In our tutorial, we'll show you the materials we used, the prep work we did, as well as the cutting of the fabrics, and then how we pieced all parts of this dress together to make it into the finished product. Follow along with our step-by-step guide below!
Before Sewing the Mini Wrap Dress
Materials Needed
Materials: KOKKA +HAyU Fabric Dog 100% Cotton Double Gauze in color C.
- Front Bodice (2 pieces): 38.5” x 20.5”
- Back Bodice (1 piece): 39” x 25.5”
- Sleeves (2 pieces): 12” x 14 ¾”
- Waistband A (2 pieces): 57.5” x 2”
- Waistband B (2 pieces): 62” x 2”
- Neckline Binding (1 piece): 55” x 1 ¼”
- Hemline Binding (1 piece): 95.5” x 1 ¼”
- Binding Sleeves (2 pieces): 15” x 1 ¼”
- Pins
- Pinking Scissors
Pattern Pieces
Preparations before Cutting and Sewing
1. Always pre-wash fabric to account for fabric shrinkage when cutting fabric. You can learn more about pre-washing your fabric by reading our article here.
2. Have pinking scissors ready. Because double gauze fabric easily frays, we used pinking scissors to prevent fabric fraying when handling the fabric.
How to Finish your Edges when Sewing
1. One option for edging double gauze fabric is to use a serger (also known as an "interlocker".) For the sleeves in this project, we used a serger.
2. Another option for finishing double gauze fabric is to make French seams. In this project, we used French seams on the shoulder and side seams.
How to make a Mini Wrap Dress: Sewing Instructions
1. Pin and then sew darts in front bodice.
2. Sew together shoulder and side seams with French seams.
How to Sew French Seams
i. Put wrong sides of the fabric together. For French seams, the first step is to sew on the right side of the fabric.
ii. After sewing on the right side of the fabric, flip over to the wrong side. Flatten seam allowance and trim seam allowance to ¼”. It’s important to cut the allowance to ¼” and trim away any frayed parts.
iii. Fold the fabric in a way that the seam allowance is covered by the wrong side of the fabric.
IV. Sew 3/8” away from the edge. In this step, you will be encasing the seam allowance.
V. Flip fabric over to the right side. Any excess fabric that can be seen from the seams means that seam allowance was not trimmed enough. You can remedy this by sewing another seam further away to hide the excess fabric.
VI. Repeat on side seams.
Attaching the Bindings
3. To finish the neckline, we will be using bindings for a cleaner and more stable finishing. Attach the right side of the binding strip (55” x 1 ¼”) to the right side of neckline. Pin from the front neckline to the back neckline and all the way until the other end of the front bodice neckline.
4. Sew ¼” away from the raw edge of fabric.
5. Fold rest of the binding fabric towards the wrong side of fabric. Fold one more time to hide the raw edges of the binding fabric.
6. Sew ¼” away from seam. This stitch will appear in the right side of fabric so make sure the stitch is clean and there is no snagging on the fabric.
7. Repeat above steps for the binding on hemline. Double roll the edge of the hemline binding.
8. Repeat the above steps for the binding on the sleeves.
9. Attach the sleeves to the bodice.
How to Attach and Assemble a Waistband
10. Put the right sides of the fabric together. Sew ¼” away from the raw edges.
11. Leave around 1” unstitched on one side in order to flip the waistband. Trim the edge of waistband.
12. Pull the waistband until it is completely flipped over. Use a safety pin to make the edges of the waistband pointed for a cleaner finish.
13. Topstitch the 1” unstitched side. Double roll the raw edge of the waistband and iron waistband to flatten the fabric out.
5. Attach the waistband to the hemline binding. Keep the waistband below the binding. The longer waistband (Waistband B) should be attached to the front bodice side that will be on top of the other front bodice.
6. Unpick one part of side seam in order to have waistband pass through. This will be on the side opposite of where the waistbands will be tied. The length of unsewn portion should be enough to let waistband pass through.
7. Finish the unpicked portion by sewing the seam allowances together. Then, make a square topstitch at the right side of the fabric.
8. Now your mini wrap dress is finished!
We hope you enjoyed this DIY tutorial! We can't wait to see your sewn up mini wrap dresses! When sharing your blouse on social media, please tag your makes #kfminiwrapdress so we can find it.
If you have any questions about this sewing tutorial or need help selecting fabric, please get in touch at our Contact Us page.
Happy making!
