DIY Tank Dress Pattern Hack and Sewing Tutorial

With this tutorial, you can easily transform any tank top into a stylish fitted Tank Dress Pattern in just a few simple steps. 

The best part is that we’ve included a free tank top sewing pattern in the instructions that you can use to transform into this beautiful and comfortable dress. So, you will have two patterns for one today!

This entire project should take you at most 3 hours to sew from start to finish. So, with your fabrics and sewing machine ready, let’s get started!

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The last ribbed knit I had was used to make a cute princess seam dress with our Dahlia Dress Sewing Pattern. Even though everyone warned me I shouldn’t make that type of dress with ribbed knit, I took the chance, and it was a success!!

But this time, I wanted to do something comfortable that I could use to be at home (where I am most of my time). 

Let me be completely honest here: Making this dress was not my idea. It was actually inspired by the hack that one of my readers did with this exact same pattern and showed us on our Sewing Club on Facebook. 

This was a perfect sewing project for us to make this summer, so I’ve made this quick tutorial.

And when I say this is the perfect dress to wear at home, girl, you have to trust me! Because you won’t be getting out of this dress all week! (That is assuming you made more than one of them, LOL.)

Let’s begin with the pattern hack and the sewing tutorial, shall we?

Selecting and modifying a tank top sewing pattern.

You can use these steps to modify any tank top sewing pattern or garment you already have.

For this tutorial, we are using the Lottie Tank Top Free Sewing Pattern by My Golden Thimble. This pattern comes in 22 sizes, so you will definitely find yours there. 

If you don’t want to go into trouble, just use a tank top garment from your closet folded in half.

So here is what you are going to do.

1. Find the waist of the tank top by either putting it on or by finding the narrower curve on the pattern, and make a mark on the side seams.
2. Measure down from that mark to determine your Hip Height. For more information, refer to our post on How to Take Your Own Measurements.
3. From the center front and back, mark the measurement of ¼ of your high hip measurement.
4. From the waist point, measure down (from the center front and back) the length you want your dress to be. And then square that line horizontally.
5. Connect the high hip mark with the dress length in a straight line, squaring it down.
6. Add 1” of seam allowance for the hem.

Optional* If you want your dress to have more of a pencil skirt look, subtract 1”-2” from the side seams (blue space). You can learn everything about how to draft a pencil skirt in this tutorial.

That’s it. You can do all these modifications directly on the fabric. Alternatively, you can copy the pattern with your favorite pattern maker paper to have a template ready to be cut again.

Now, let’s see how to sew it.

Sewing the Tank Dress Pattern

For this project, make sure you have the following sewing patterns, tools, and materials ready to go.

1. Gather your materials.

For this pattern, you will need the following materials.

• 1 ½ yards of knit fabric (50% crosswise stretch and above).
• The Hacked Lottie Tank Top Free Sewing Pattern (see above for the hack instructions and the free version of the pattern)
• Fabric scissors
• Matching thread
• Serger Machine (I am using this one)
• Sewing Machine (I am using this one)
• Twin Needle for Stretch Fabrics

Note* Our tank top sewing tutorial provides a detailed step-by-step picture explanation of how to sew this pattern. Refer to that post for an extended picture and video explanation.

3. Cut your fabrics.

Use the pattern symbols to cut your pattern pieces with the correct grainline of your fabric.

You should have one front bodice, one back bodice, one neckband, and two armbands (all these pattern pieces are included with the Lottie Tank Top Pattern).

4. Sew the shoulders.

Start by placing the front bodice over the back bodice with the right sides of the fabrics facing together. Serge the shoulders and press the seams towards the back bodice.

5. Join the neckband.

Join the shorter ends of the neckband with the wrong sides of the fabrics facing together. Then, fold the neckband half lengthwise and divide it into four equal parts. Next, open the bodices and divide the neckline into four equal parts. Match the neckband with the neckline. Finally, serge and press the seams towards the bodice.

6. Join the armbands.

Fold the armband strips in half (lengthwise). Pin the armband with the armhole. Then, pin the center of the band with the shoulder seam and the end of the band at the other end of the armhole. Serge together. Press the seams flat towards the bodice.

7. Close the sides.

Align the front and back bodice side seams together, with the wrong side of the fabrics facing together, and pin. Serge the sides together.

8. Make the hem with a Twin Needle.

As the hem of our skirt will be tight around our legs, we need it to stretch as much as the fabric allows. 

We made the hem of this tank dress pattern using a twin needle to achieve that. This technique will allow us to maintain the hem’s stretchability so we can walk freely and comfortably—even if you choose to make the pencil skirt style!

We have a detailed step-by-step tutorial on using a twin needle here if you want to check that out.

Pattern Customization Tips

You can dare and play around with this sewing pattern to make it even more unique to your taste!!

Go ahead and experiment with different design elements and techniques to add your personal touch to the dress!

One thing you could do, for example, is modify the type of neckline to be deeper or turn it into a different style, like a “V” or square neckline.

Another fun idea is to play with contrast using different colors on your neck and armbands.

Finally, you could make the “straps” of this dress much narrower by sewing the bands using a bias binding technique. That way, you will end up with a more stylized look.

But don’t just end up there! Dare to try your ideas and make this dress truly one of a kind.

Of course, share it with us on our social media channels! We are always happy to see our readers’ creations.

Conclusion

Hacking a tank top sewing pattern to create a custom tank dress is super fun and a fantastic way to experiment with pattern making. Easy hacks like this can transform your wardrobe and help you get the most out of your patterns. 

So, don’t be afraid to experiment with different design elements and techniques to make the dress truly yours!