How to Make a Fringed Flapper Dress

This is a fun dress for a costume, or an evening out dancing. It's also a very easy dress to make.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Fabric
• Fringe
• Decorative tape
• Matching thread
• Sewing machine
• zipper or button

1. Wrap the fabric around yourself to form a tube. When you have it where you like it, mark that spot, then add another 3 inches for seam allowance and cut the fabric. The fabric I used for the dress shown was very cheap silver acetate. For this design, I'd recommend a woven fabric. If you want to go with a stretchy one, and you're not too curvy you may be able to skip steps 2, 3 and 4, but the dress will look more modern.

2. Cut your fabric into a front and back of the dress, by cutting it in half vertically. This will make it possible to put in side seams.

3. 

   If you have a chest, which wasn't ideal in the 20s by the way, you'll need to put some darts in the front rectangle to make the dress hang right. It's a good idea to pin these and hold them up to the wearer before sewing. To form a dart, hold or pin the fabric up about where you'll wear it. Don't forget to fold over the top edge for the hem. Now under the arm pits at nipple height, pinch together the fabric to make the side hang straight. You'll need to sew together the pinched together fabric from where you pinched it to about half way out the breast.

4. 

   Sew the sides of the two rectangles together to form a tube. Match up the top edges, and sew down. The back rectangle is going to be a little longer on one end if you did the chest darts. Trim off the excess to make it even.

5. 

   Try on the dress. If it's hard to get on over the head, you'll need to add a zipper or button. to do this, either add the zipper in the side seam, or slit the dress down the back and add the zipper to the new back seam. Alternatively, you can slit the dress down the back and leave it open with just a button, hook, or decorative tie at the top of the opening.

6. Hem the top and bottom.

7. Sew on the fringe in a line horizontally all around the dress. You can get creative here, and make an interesting pattern, or keep it simple and just put a row on the top and the bottom.

8. Sew the decorative tape over he top of the fringe.

9. Use decorative tape to make shoulder straps.

10. If you have decorative tape left over, you can use it to make a head band.

Tips & Warnings

• Shoes are really important to making this costume look realistic. Look for mary janes or t-straps with a curvy medium height heel. It's a classic style. You'll be surprised how much more use you'll get out of them.
• Garters just above the hem line were standard at this time. They should be flashy so they show when you dance.
• This dress style came back in the 60s, so go-go boots are another shoe alternative. If you do this do big bubble hair and wear fake eye lashes.