Today I wanted to share with you a cute DIY dress decoration I recently tried. I used a strapless pink dress, elastic black lace, butterfly appliques, and a headband. I wanted to give the plain dress a spicier look, so here are some ideas that are easy to make, do not take a lot of time, and will help you get a unique outfit in less than 2 hours. If you don’t have some of these materials, try using our suggestions below:
- All About the Straps
I started off by sewing two over-the-shoulder lace straps on the reverse side of the dress. Sewing on the lining of the dress will make the stitches practically invisible from the outside. If you want to check out a step-by-step video on how to make those straps, watch this instruction video. The basics are pretty simple – measure, cut, pin, and sew:
- Put the dress on and measure the lace length you will need for the straps. Once you know the length of one of the straps, cut a second lace strap with the same length.
- Pin the lace to the dress to lock the position of the straps.
- Fold the dress in two to make sure that the straps are positioned symmetrically on the front and on the back of the dress.
- Sew the straps on the reverse side of the dress, ideally on its lining.
Once you have the over-the-shoulder straps ready, you can add two additional crisscross straps. To do that, use a pin to mark the mid-points of the over-the-shoulder straps. These will be the points that are exactly above your shoulders once you put the dress on. Next, pin the lace to the mid-point of one of the straps and to the back of the dress, at the beginning of the other strap. Cut the lace at the desired length. Use a thread that matches the color of the lace to sew. The stitches you make should match the positions of the pins. Repeat these steps for a second crisscross strap. Keep in mind that, when sewing the crisscross lace straps on the back of the dress, the end of the lace for each strap will not be a straight line, but a diagonal cut.
- Sew Appliques on the Crisscross Straps
I sewed the white butterfly appliques on the black lace straps. To make sure that the butterflies are evenly spaced out on the straps pin them to the lace before you start sewing. Make sure to use a thread that matches the appliques – a white one in this case.
- Spice Up the Neckline
To emphasize the pretty neckline of the dress, you can sew black lace on the neckline lining. I hand stitched the lace, because by stitching it only to the lining I made sure that the stitches are not visible. It did not take much time to hand sew, so I recommend doing that instead of using a sewing machine. If you are looking for a more tuned down look, stitch through the middle of the lace, leaving only half of it visible. You can decide the width of the lace you want to be visible above the neckline and adjust the position of the stitches accordingly. End the lace neckline by stitching it over the side stitches of the dress.
- Decorate the Top
Finally, you can use the butterfly appliques to give the dress a final touch. Pin the appliques on the dress, making the design you’d like. Then use a matching thread to sew them on the dress.
