Life is Beautiful

Motherhood, Sewing, Family

How to modestify your summer dress

~ SEWING

We’ve all done it before. You know…. wearing a short sleeve shirt under our sleeveless tops/summer dresses. Yes, I’m talking to you LDS women out there. And yes, some of us still do it(me guilty!), it’s such a UT/mormon thing but it’s not like we think it’s cuter that way, we just want to dress modestly and we have no choice when we want to show off our cute top/dresses! But I do gotta admit, it looks the CUTEST just the way it is, without anything underneath. A cardigan is okay, but a white shirt under it? Let’s just say we probably won’t win a “best dressed” award with that outfit. So with Summer here and too hot for a cardigan, what do you do? Well, we can “modestify” our sleevess tops/dresses!

I bought this dress for $9 as an XXL. (*big money saving tip: XL, XXL’s are more likely to be on sale! so buy it and alter it!) So I sewed the sides smaller. (this picture is after the alteration.) Using the extra fabric I had from cutting up the sides, I cut 2 rectangles.

Then cut the top part into a half-round shape.

Using a stitch length 5, sew the top part(curved part) of the fabric.

The sewing machine will automatically bunch it up but make sure it’s even and flatten/bunch it as needed. To flatten it more, simply grab the bunched part and pull it outwards. To bunch it up more, simply grab one string from one side and pull on it while pulling the fabric closer together.

Pin it onto the sleeveless part. Make sure the middle of the sleeves matches up with the middle of the sleeveless seam.

sew it (stitch length 2.5) right along the seams.

That’s it! So simple!

no need to wear a shirt underneath, hooray! 😉

This is another dress I did. There was only one left and I fell in love the moment I saw it! Isn’t it so Anthro? It’s a very good material and the fabric has leaf engravened designs all over it. I did the same thing as the dress shown above but using the fabric from the pockets it had. This dress was a size 6 so I altered the sides smaller but it wasn’t enough fabric for the sleeves. I didn’t even know this dress had pockets but good thing it did because I wouldn’t have been able to add on the sleeves.

And viola! No need for a white shirt underneath! And another tip for modestifying your dresses: Buy a dress a few sizes bigger since it offers a longer length and then alter it to fit you.  Use the extra fabric to make the sleeves!

Comments

  3. Kea says

    Am I the only one with the problem of my kamakis peeking through the collar part? I stil couldn't wear those dresses because of the collar being too wide.

  7. Tricia says

    Thanks for sharing. I've seen your dresses on link parties before and always appreciated you adding the sleeves in. So often I just walk past the sleeveless dresses in the store and look for different options. You might just convince me to attempt this. If only I were better at altering the fit.

  11. Sarah says

    kea: I wear sweetheart(square), round, or the gathered on the front one and I usually don't have problems. But if it does seep through or it's too low, I wear a tank underneath.
    and laura: I got the green dress at forever 21 and the navy one at target.
    kimmie: I've never tried it on spaghetti straps but if I do, I'll let u know how!

    And thanks everyone for your kind comments! 🙂

  12. Sandy a la Mode says

    wow, i am sooo impressed!! there are soo many times where i found a dress i love but it's in a size too big! once i get a little better at sewing, i can just alter my own dresses from now on, thanks for the inspiration!!

  13. Amy says

    Good work! I have so many dresses maternity ones that I got rid of for that very reason haha! They of course look so great on you because you are so super cute and skinny!

  14. Staci J says

    Sooo cute!!! You're so talented to even think of that, and you looks super cute in your new modest dresses:)
    visiting from tutorial tuesday linky party
    justsewsassy.com

  19. L ~DIY Diva~ says

    i love both of these dresses! so cute and chic.

    MAKE MY STYLE MONDAY link party going on now!
    check it out and link up!
    ~L~
    avidaccents.blogspot.com

  24. Sew Much Ado says

    You are so smart, as usual! I just watched your video and voted for you too, you're so cute and did such a great job! Good luck :).

  25. Joe'n'Jess says

    ok, you don't know me, but i just need to tell you how much i appreciate this post!!! finally someone pointed out how awkward it is to wear a t-shirt under sleeveless top. and then (the cherry on top) you showed us how to fix it. a million 'thank you's!!!

  26. Misty says

    I'll have to bookmark this! I love, love, LOVE the green dress!!

    Thanks for linking @Creative Itch's "Sew Cute Tuesday"!

  33. Hannah says

    oh bummer. These look great. I was just hoping that you were going to show me how to modestify all those cute summer dresses that plunge down the middle. Oh well, this is still helpful and cute and I love the tip to save money by buying big. Nice idea!

  35. Andrea says

    Wow, they look great! Nice work! I hope you'll link up to Make It Wear It over at TheTrainToCrazy.com for my weekly Thursday blog party for all things made to be workn!

  37. Lanie Ree says

    This is fantastic! I've thought of doing this before, but I was never brave enough to try it. But now that I've seen your results, I'm even more excited to get a sewing machine!

    Thank you for participating the Creative Therapy session at Life in the Pitts!

  40. Erin @ Crafts and Sutch says

    That is fantastic! I wish I had your sewing skills…you can make anything you want look perfect for you! 🙂

    I'm stopping by from Simply Designing!

    Have a super weekend!
    Erin
    Crafts & Sutch

  42. Q says

    That is simply wonderful great job.

    BTW it's my first time on your site, but I'm looking forward to seeing more :).

  43. Jen Poe says

    How lovely! As soon as I am done being pregnant, I fully intend to get into shape and start making things for myself and not just the babies on the way! haha. I love the first one!

  52. Pam @ bibbidi-bobbidi-beautiful says

    Thanks for the great idea! Us catholic mommies appreciate modest dress too! I really love your transformation. I actually prefer your dress to the original! There's something so pretty and feminine about a capped sleeve!

  57. the mama monster says

    yay! such a great idea. i almost bought that same dress on clearance for $5 to make a skirt with,but i changed my mind because my cart was full… better hurry back to target and get it!

  61. Sarah says

    caitlin: I just put the fabric right on the sleeveless part and just roughly measured how long I wanted the sleeves to fall down. then cut +1.5" bigger than the length you want for the stitching and hemming you would need to do. hope that made sense! 😀

  62. Stephanie Lynn says

    The flowered dress is simply beautiful! Fabulous tips as sometimes I don't like sleeveless – especilly before I have a tan! Great idea very well done! Thanks so much for joining The Sunday Showcase. I greatly appreciate it! Hope you have a wonderul week! ~ Stephanie Lynn

  63. Amber H. says

    You know, this is actually pretty handy to know! I'm trying to learn how to draft my own dress patterns without having a base pattern in the first place, and sleeves are the mystery item because I have NO CLUE how to make those.. until now! Thanks so much for showing how to do this!

  64. Jennia Hart says

    AWESOME!!!!!!! Simply awesome- your dresses look better with the sleeves than they did before!

    I'll have to admit that I'm getting to the age that I just like to hide my upper arms for embarrasment reason in addition to modesty. I will so be buying the next cute sleeveless dresses I see on sale!!!

  66. Pixie in Pumps says

    ok this is amazing. It looks like it was always meant to be that way. This is one of my favorite dresses I own and I often put a black flutter sleeve top under it because I really like it that way! I will definitely have to try this with something I thrift!

  67. jenn (+ will) says

    WHAT THE HECK! you are AMAZING 🙂 and guess what? i remember that green dress from f21. i totally tried on like two different times and wanted to buy it so bad but i knew i'd look like a milkmaid if i put a t-shirt underneath it! good job miss!!!!!

  70. Rachael Barksdale says

    I just recently discovered your blog, and it has inspired me to try my hand at diy alterations. I bought a sewing machine this summer and have only just now begun to use it.
    I have very minimal sewing experience but with lots of time, and even more patience, I am almost done altering my own dress I bought at the DI!
    Your sleeves tutorial has put my extra fabric to good use – and they came out BEAUTIFULLY. I'd say I'm proud of myself, but I couldn't have done it without your post. So thank you!

  78. Heather says

    Okay, YOU are amazing! Just found your blog via pinterest and I will be visiting often! Can't wait to make some modest alterations!

  80. CJ says

    These dresses are cute as cute can be, and modest too, but how did putting a little piece of fabric on the top of the shoulder make the dresses any more modest than they were in the first place?

  81. CJ says

    These dresses are cute as cute can be, and modest too, but how did putting a little piece of fabric on the top of the shoulder make the dresses any more modest than they were in the first place?

  83. Sarah says

    Haha, I meant "modest" according to the LDS standards where we are not suppose to wear any sleeveless clothing. So yes, I personally think it's modest with or without sleeves, but just referring solely to the LDS standards. 🙂

  87. Donna says

    Love your site! I think most of the alterations that you do would be ok for an older woman, also, yes? I am not LDS but am a conservative Christian and dress modestly, too!

  89. Dani says

    I'm so sad you sacrificed the pockets on the second dress! It did turn out wonderful though. Thank you for the tutorial! I love summer dresses but they're always sleeveless and I don't do sleeveless! I'll have to give this a try.

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  91. stella says

    No solo se usan las mangas por modestia. Yo soy una mujer grande que me gusta vestir moderna. Pero quiero ocultar mis brazos porque estan arrugados. El problema es que tengo muchos vestidos y no todos tienen tela de mas para usar. Asi que a veces me arreglo con puntillas o telas que hagan juego. El problema mayor es cuando tengo poca tela y no se como solucionarlo.

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