How to Make a 1920s Lowered Waist Dress

Use a T-shirt to make your own drop-waist flapper dress.

In the 1920s, a drop-waist dress with a short skirt was a very popular style, especially with flappers -- the new young women who raised hemlines, bobbed their hair, drank and smoked. The shorter skirts were excellent for dancing the Charleston and Lindy Hop. Using a favorite T-shirt and adding a skirt, you can make your own lowered waist style dress for when you want to add a vintage look to your evening wear.

Things You'll Need

• Long, slim-fitting T-shirt
• Coordinating fabric for skirt
• Fringe, lace, pearls or other decorations
• Scissors
• Sewing machine
• Straight pins

Instructions

1. Cut your T-shirt to where you want the waistline of your dress to be. Measure your hips, where the bottom of your t-shirt falls.

2. Cut a square piece of fabric with a hole in the middle. The circumference of the hole should be 1/3 of your hip measurement. The distance from the hole to the edge of the square should be the shortest length you’d like your skirt to be. Make three of these squares.

3. Take one of your skirt pieces and find the middle point of one of the edges (it doesn’t matter which one.) Cut from this point through to the circle in the middle. Repeat with the second skirt piece. Repeat with the third skirt piece, but continue cutting until it is cut completely in half. Discard one half. These cuts are where you will pin and sew the pieces together.

4. Using the cuts you just made, and matching up the waistline edges, pin one edge of your first skirt piece to one edge of your third skirt piece. Pin the other edge of your third skirt piece to one edge of your second skirt piece. Pin the other edge of the second skirt piece to the remaining edge of your first skirt piece. Sew straight seams on all pinned edges.

5. Sew the waistline of the skirt to the bottom of your t-shirt. Hem the bottom of your skirt. Attach lace, pearls or other decoration around the waistline.

Tips & Warnings

• If you want to use the same fabric for the top and bottom of your dress, trace your T-shirt and use the tracing to make a pattern for the top of your dress.

• Use the discarded fabric from your third skirt piece to make a matching headband or a fabric flower to attach to your waistline. Alternately, when cutting the third piece, don’t cut a full square.

References

• Craftster; How to Make a Roaring 20's Yellow Flapper Dress!!; July 2005
• 3 Sweet P's; Girls T-shirt Re-Fashion; October 2009