DIY Caftan Dress

When I was younger, I was all about form fitting clothing because I was crazy confident in my body. I'm still quite confident and I'm still in love with a good body conscious dress but lately, I've also really been loving billowy tops. I recently picked up a super flowy linen-y tunic from Zara and have been wearing it to death. It's just so comfortable and I love that I can eat whatever I want and not have to worry about my food baby poking through.

The downside to my love of bohemian tops is that it's hard to find one that suits me. I have a rather small frame and often times, I find that flowy tops are just a little too voluminous and make me look chunkier. So, my constant solution in situations like these is to DIY. On a recent trip to Target, I found a pretty white scarf with some colorful embroidery for under $10. And decided I had to turn it into a long caftan-style dress. My sister commented that it looked like something I should wear to Mexico and I was sold because a dress meant for going on holiday? Yes, please. Especially because I'll be heading to Grand Cayman in November.

You'll need:
scarf (or fabric) - wide enough to cover your torso and create sleeves, long enough to be folded in half and be the length you want it
sharp scissors
iron
needle & thread or sewing machine

This concept is exactly the same as my beach caftan DIY except this one requires a little more sewing. Luckily for me, my sister recently bought a sewing machine and she was willing to put in a little labor for me.

To start, I tore off any little tags hanging off the scarf. Then, I folded my fabric in half and then used an iron to crease the fabric. Then, I roughly measured my shoulders so I knew exactly how much to cut for the neck hole.

The easiest way to check that the hole is correctly sized is to try it on.

Because this is a fabric that needs hemming, I couldn't just leave the neck hole as-is. So, I used the iron to fold over the fabric twice to create a neat hem.

Then, my sister sewed it up for me. She carefully sewed the neck hem and then sewed two vertical lines to create the body of the caftan.

And then, it was ready for me to try on! I can't wait to sport this in Grand Cayman. It's super soft so it'll be a perfect swimsuit coverup.

xoxo.