inside: Create a beautiful tank dress with this sewing tutorial. Use my free tank pattern and add a tiered skirt to is with this sewing tutorial. Sew a beautiful tank dress for warmer weather.
I have so much fun sewing summer clothes for my kids. Did you see I just updated my free sewing patterns for kids post? Check it out for free printable sewing patterns for summer. Speaking of sewing for summer I’m so excited to share this fun tiered tank dress sewing tutorial. You can sew it in any size with the details below and create a really fun dress version of my original skirt tutorial.
Tiered tank dress sewing tutorial –
A couple of years ago I shared the original version of this, which was a tiered skirt. It was made from woven fabric and my daughter wore it all the time. You can find the original tiered skirt here. Then last year I decided to try it in knit fabric and add it to a t-shirt top. The results were equally adorable and you can find that tutorial here. Here’s a peak at those two looks.
The super fun thing about the tank or shirt version of this is that you can start from scratch and sew the top OR you can add a tiered skirt to a tank or t-shirt that you already have. Both are great choices for sewing an adorable dress.
Again, I have also found that this tiered skirt tutorial works equally well with both woven and knit fabric. Today we will be looking at the specifics of making a tank version like this.
For my tiered tank dress I used my free tank top pattern {found here} I am a bit sad as Rose is now in the largest size of my free tank pattern. Maybe time to update and add larger sizes {haha} You can use any tank pattern you want… my free womens tank and kids tank can be found by clicking on the linked text.
When creating this look from a tank pattern you will want to shorten the tank before sewing on the skirt. You can shorten the pattern before cutting if you are sewing the top OR shorten an already made or bought tank. The side seam of my tank shown here is 5″, which I think is perfect for my average height 7 year old. You can adjust the tank length as desired.
Ready to sew this awesome dress? Grab a tank top pattern of your choice and fabric for a skirt. You will need about 1.5 yards of fabric and can use all one print or a mix.
How to sew a tank dress –
I’m not going to walk you through every step of sewing the tank or the skirt, as both can be found in the individual tutorials on my site. I will show you how to connect the two here though and give some tips for that specific step. SO… let’s begin by either grabbing a tank from your drawer OR grab a tank pattern. HERE is my free kids tank and tutorial.
Now we will cut the skirt tiers. You will need the total length you want your dress to be. Shoulder to bottom of dress___________. Then subtract the length of your tank top ___________. Now divide the leftover length by 3. _________. My example. Total dress length 28″. Tank is 10″. Leftover is 18″, each skirt layer will be 6″ tall.
The tier length is determined by the width of the tank. Measure the bottom of the tank {mine is 23″} First tier is 1.5X this width, second tier should be 2x this width and third tier should be 2.5x this width. My skirt is- first tier: 34″, second tier: 46″ and their tier: 58″. Of course your tiers can be longer than this for more gathers, but I like this proportions for the skirt.
Need more help with this? Check out the original Tiered Skirt post for more details.
Once you have everything cut out begin by sewing up your tank. You may need to sew up the tank to get the tank measurements. I also top-stitched the tank bindings after I finished sewing.
At this point layout your skirt layers and sew the short ends of the layers together. Each tier should now be in a circle.
I like to work from the top down. You will gather the top edge of the top tier to match the bottom of the tank. Use your favorite method to gather the fabric. Here are my five favorite ways to gather fabric. I used the serger method here.
When you have the fabric gathered to the correct width you will place the right sides together and sew with a knit stitch or serger {if you are using knit fabric you must use a stretch stitch} Repeat those steps {gather to match, pin right sides together, sew} with tiers two to one and then tiers three to two. Now all three pieces of the skirt should be attached to the tank. Hem the bottom edge of the skirt if desired. {knit fabric can be left un-hemmed}
The sewn layers of the skirt should look like this when attached.
You did it! I want to sew one in my size with this tutorial and the womens tank pattern. Enjoy this fun dress!
MADELINE l NEWTON says
YOUR DAUGHTER HAS GROWN SO MUCH ..SHE LOOKS GREAT OF COURSE SO DO THE BOYS …I JUST COULDN’T BELIEVE HOW MUCH SHE HAS ….HER DRESS IS REALLY CUTE AND LOOKS SO EASY …THANK YOU FOR ALL OF THE PATTERNS FOR ME TO TRY FOR ALL OF THE GRAND BABIES WELL THERE NOT BABIES BUT HAVE SOME GREAT GRAND BABIES AND A LONG TIME FRIEND WITH BABIES …AGAIN THANK YOU ..YOURS ARE GROWING LIKE ALL OF MY GRAND BABIES AND GREAT GRAND BABIES …IT IS SO SAD TO LOOSE ALL OF THE BABIES …LOVE AND MUCH HAPPINESS TO ALL OF THE FAMILY …TAKE CARE AND BE SAFE WITH ALL THAT IS GOING ON IN OUR WORLD RIGHT NOW …
Sheila Robson says
Another great tutorial, thank you. I just wanted to add one thing, I worked out for myself an alternative way to gather, which is particularly useful when you are attaching a woven skirt to a knit bodice. And that is to use shirring elastic in the bobbin to gather the woven fabric.. This keeps some stretch in the top of the woven skirt, so when you are attaching to the knit top, you can fit it nicely, and then use a stretch stitch to attach the two layers together. The problem with doing a ‘normal’ gather on woven is that, once it’s gathered, it’s a fixed size, and it won’t necessarily stretch once atttached to the bodice.
Paula Probasco says
Thanks for the patterns