Sew Easy

My fetish for beards lead me to this latest DIY number. What the Jesus do bearded men and pretty summer dresses have in common I hear you say? Loads! Joaquin Phoenix, the usually clean cut oscar award winning actor -> has a moment of disheveled crazy genius when deciding to produce and star in the mockumentary 'I'm Still Here' -> grows rather impressive beard -> Joaquin is the brother of Summer Phoneix -> co-owner of 'Some Odd Rubies' a vintage store in New York -> appeared on the Martha Stewart Show when promoting her store and in the process decided to share her simple shift dress pattern to the masses. And there you have it!

Now to the dress...what you'll need:

• Long secondhand skirt with elastic waist
• Ruler
• Disappearing fabric marker or pencil
• Scissors (quality fabric scissors)
  
• Seam ripper or small, sharp scissors
• Sewing machine threaded with coordinating thread
• 3 feet of coordinating ribbon
• Safety pin

How you do it (I promise it is actually pretty easy):

1. Cut elastic waist from skirt. Lay skirt flat, and cut top edge with scissors or a rotary cutter to make even.

2. Measure 1 1/2 inches from top raw edge and draw a line across skirt.

3. With a seam ripper or small pair of sharp scissors, open side seams 10 inches down from drawn line (this will create a 9-inch armhole).

4. Finish opened seam edges with a machine-sewn baby hem.

5. On one side of skirt, fold top raw edge down one half inch, then another half inch. Pin in place. Machine-sew across skirt, along bottom edge of folded "tunnel." Repeat on other side of skirt.

6. Attach a safety pin to lengths of ribbon and thread through the tunnels you have created on both sides of top of dress.

7. If desired, tie a length of the same ribbon around middle of dress to create a belt.

The Finished Product: