Easy Upcycle Idea: Gorgeous No-sew Dress Tutorial

For this no-sew dress tutorial, I’m going to show you how to adjust an upcycled dress that is too tight over the chest.

I’ll also show you how to dye the dress since upcycling clothes often involve faded fabrics in need of fresh color.

Tools and materials: 

• Slightly small faded dress
• Dye
• Seam ripper
• Sink
• Hot water
• Salt
• Dish soap
• Washing machine
• Hanger
• Sewing machine (optional)

1. Dye the dress

Following the instructions on the dye bottle, I filled my sink with very hot water. Pour in about half the bottle of dye, since we’re dying a maxi dress.

If you’re using a different dye with different instructions, adjust accordingly. If not, add a teaspoon of dish soap and pour in about 1/2 a cup of salt.

Give it a good stir.

Then fold the dress in giving the fabric a good amount of agitation to make sure you cover all the fabric. Leave the dress in the dye for about 3 hours.

2. Drain, wash, and hang to dry

Drain the sink and rinse the dress with cold water until the water runs clear.

Run it through the washing machine and then hang it to dry.

3. Making it bigger

Now it’s time to upsize the dress. This technique only works if you have double seams on the inside of your garment.

Remove the inner seam with a seam ripper.

Open the inner seams on the shoulder, sleeves, and on the sides of the bodice. Once you get the first few stitches open, you should be able to just pull the thread.

If you have the motivation you can reinforce the outer seam. If not, it should be sturdy enough. I did a quick line stitch along my outer seam edges.

No-sew dress makeover

I love upcycling ideas for clothes. This one turned out to make for a great fairy costume for Halloween. You never know what purpose your upcycled old clothes might have.

Leave me a comment to let me know how your upcycle went.

Next, learn How to Make Overalls From an Old Bed Sheet?!