How to Make a Girl's Swimdress

A swim dress provides more coverage than a traditional swimsuit.

Finding a modest swimsuit for little girls can be surprisingly difficult. A swim dress paired with a swimsuit bottom provides adequate coverage and looks adorable. However, swim dresses for little girls aren’t very easy to find, so you may need to make your own. Fortunately, you don’t need to start from scratch. By adding weighted drapery tape to a girl’s polyester and spandex blend dress, you can convert the dress into a swim dress that will not float up in the water.

Things You'll Need

• Girl's dress made out of polyester and spandex
• Scissors
• Straight pins
• Sewing machine
• Thread
• 1-1/2-yards of 1/8-inch wide weighted drapery tape
• Safety pin

Instructions

1. Cut the dress to the desired length plus 1 inch.

2. Fold the bottom edge of the dress over by 1 inch and secure in place with straight pins.

3. Place the bottom edge of the dress on the sewing machine and sew the pinned hem in place using a straight stitch and removing the straight pins before they encounter the sewing needle. Leave a 1/2-inch gap between the first and last stitches. The hem creates a casing for the weighted drapery tape.

4. Insert a safety pin into one end of the weighted drapery tape. Close the safety pin and use it to push the weighted drapery tape through the 1/2-inch gap in the 1-inch casing hem. Push the safety pin through the entire casing until the safety pin comes back to the 1/2-inch gap in the casing.

5. Push the safety pin out of the 1/2-inch gap in the 1-inch casing hem. Remove the safety pin. Overlap the two ends of the weighted drapery tape by 1 inch. Pin the two ends together with a straight pin.

6. Place the overlapped drapery tape ends on the sewing machine and sew them together with a straight stitch. Cut the excess drapery tape and remove the straight pin. Tuck the sewn together segment of the drapery tape into the 1-inch casing hem.

7. Close the 1/2-inch gap in the casing hem using a straight stitch.