Infinity dress ... take 3

I think I finally cracked this dress. With a few new ideas I ran out for another $5 bolt of 5 yards of fabric. This dress does need about 5 yards of fabric for the dress.


I first needed to take a few measurements to determine how wide to make the straps and how big to make the inner circle for the skirt.

For the straps: Measure from the center of your chest across the widest part Denote this value W. Making the straps this wide will ensure that you will be able to cover everything however it could be slightly too big. (I would prefer to error on the side of slightly too big) After completing the dress I realize (W-2)inches would have been wide enough.

For the inner circle: Measure around the widest part of your body (usually the hips) and call this measurement B. Next take the fabric and loosely hold 4 inches next to a ruler, then stretch the fabric as much as possible and measure  against the ruler call this a. Now denote A=a/4 (If this A is very close to 1 then the dress won't quite work well it should be at least 1.5 closer to 2 works and more than that would be fine as well).
Let r= (B+1)/(2Api) making sure all measurements are in inches (all calculators should have a button for pi which is about 3.14). r will be the radius of the center circle.

Let the length of the dress (which is restricted by the width of the fabric) be denoted C(in inches). The the radius of the outer circle, R=r+C.


Take a square of fabric measuring R inches along each side. Fold the square in half twice so it has one corner that is all folds and each of the others aren't.

Next take a pencil, chalk, or crayon tied to a string so that the length of the string is R. Hold one end at the corner of the fabric and use this to trace the quarter circle. Next repeat the process with a string of length r. Cut on each of these traced lines. Now you have your bottom skirt.

Next measure out about 8-9 feet of fabric and cut two strips of width W(or slightly less than W depending). It is better to make the straps too long that too short.



You also need a strip of fabric about 4 inches wide and at least as long as B. This will be the waist band so you can cut it to the proper length later.

If you want to edge of hem the sides of the strips now is the time to do it.
Once that is done take one short edge of each of the strips and overlap them by about 2-3 inches. Fold the skirt in half and place the outside edge of each strip at the half way mark on the inside circle of the skirt with the right sides of the fabric together. Gather the strips a bit to make sure they fit with only 2-3 inches overlap and pin in place.
Next fold the waistband in half with the right side showing and place one end about where the two strips overlap. Pin this around the entire skirt. (it should complete the circle with possibly some extra that will be cut)
Finally you will sew along this inner circle making sure to use either a zigzag stitch or stretch the fabric to account for the stretch needed. (I used my serger for this part)
After sewing completely around cut of any extra bit of the waistband. And then hem or edge the bottom of the skirt if you want to.

Final step is looking online for some tips on how to wear the dress. Since I do like wearing a bra and don't want to show too much skin I found some wonderful videos on youtube by Monif C.

Enjoy let me know if anything needs clarification.