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How to Make a Girl's Swimdress

Finding a modest swimsuit for little girls can be surprisingly difficult. A swim dress paired with a swimsuit bottom provides adequate coverage and looks adorable. However, swim dresses for little girls aren̵7;t very easy to find, so you may need to make your own. Fortunately, you don̵7;t need to start from scratch. By adding weighted drapery tape to a girl̵7;s polyester and spandex blend dress, you can convert the dress into a swim dress that will not float up in the water.

Things You'll Need

Girl's dress made out of polyester and spandex
Scissors
Straight pins
Sewing machine
Thread
1-1/2-yards of 1/8-inch wide weighted drapery tape
Safety pin

Instructions

- 1
  Cut the dress to the desired length plus 1 inch.
- 2
  Fold the bottom edge of the dress over by 1 inch and secure in place with straight pins.
- 3
  Place the bottom edge of the dress on the sewing machine and sew the pinned hem in place using a straight stitch and removing the straight pins before they encounter the sewing needle. Leave a 1/2-inch gap between the first and last stitches. The hem creates a casing for the weighted drapery tape.
- 4
  Insert a safety pin into one end of the weighted drapery tape. Close the safety pin and use it to push the weighted drapery tape through the 1/2-inch gap in the 1-inch casing hem. Push the safety pin through the entire casing until the safety pin comes back to the 1/2-inch gap in the casing.
- 5
  Push the safety pin out of the 1/2-inch gap in the 1-inch casing hem. Remove the safety pin. Overlap the two ends of the weighted drapery tape by 1 inch. Pin the two ends together with a straight pin.
- 6
  Place the overlapped drapery tape ends on the sewing machine and sew them together with a straight stitch. Cut the excess drapery tape and remove the straight pin. Tuck the sewn together segment of the drapery tape into the 1-inch casing hem.
- 7
  Close the 1/2-inch gap in the casing hem using a straight stitch.

Sewing