I Made a Quilt Dress!

About a year ago, I started seeing dresses that people were making from quilts. I loved the idea of upcycling a quilt in this way and have been wanting to make my own ever since! However, I had a hard time finding a vintage quilt that was the right colors or that I was willing to cut up. After months of looking and trying to be patient, I got very lucky and wanted to share the project I made with you!

Most of the quilts I found and loved were $300+, and I could not justify cutting them up for that price. They are beautiful works of art that someone spent hours on, and worth that price, but not for this project. One day, while thrifting, I found a quilt for $3.00 and really liked the colors. It was much too small to make a whole dress, but I knew I could do something with it, and if I messed up, would not be heart broken.

This is the quilt I found.

I felt really lucky to find this quilt because there are so many good colors to pull from. It was also in great condition with no stains, no tears and very little wear. Below are my favorite patches from the quilt.

Because it was a smaller size, I knew that in order to make a garment I would need to add additional fabric. Fortunately, I have a lot of fabric options stockpiled in my studio (I will use them all someday, haha!) and knew I could pull something together. My plans were to make a knee length, pull over type of dress with large sleeves and a loose fit. I started by playing around with some pattern combinations and landed on the fabrics shown below.

Both of these fabrics were left over from previous projects. I looked through the patterns I have and landed on this one from Simplicity. I’ve probably had it for 20 years, and have used it for multiple projects. It is a super easy pattern to use and can be easily adapted.

I used the pattern pieces for the dress shown on the right side of the pattern sleeve, but made the following changes:

• This pattern is made to have tie straps in the back, but I opted to make it without the ties.

• I decided to leave off the contrast band on the bottom of the dress.

• I planned to add pockets to the outside of the skirt.

• I cut the pattern pieces in a larger size than I wear to achieve the loose fit I was after.

My plan was to use the brown and pink floral fabric for the top, back of the dress. The small dot pattern would be used for the contrast bands. Once all of my pieces were cut out, I started sewing and the dress came together very quickly.

This is the top, front of the dress with the quilt and contrast bands.

This is the top, back of the dress with the added fabric and contrast bands.

After the top was completed, I stepped back and was really happy with how it came together. I really love the mix of the fabric patterns and how it fit. I was ready to move onto sewing the skirt, which I planned to be made completely from the quilt. The skirt has some gathering where it meets the top. With the thickness of the quilt, I was hoping that the gathers would make the skirt look full and lay away from the body.

Using the brown and pink floral fabric, I added some generous pockets on the outside of the skirt. Instead of the contracting band, I finished the hem simply by serging the edge, folding it under and straight stitching.

This is the finished front of the dress.

This is the finished back of the dress.

Because I opted to not make the tie straps on the back of the dress, it ended up being bigger in the waist than I wanted. I added two pleats on the back that still allow for me to pull the dress on, but also make it more fitted in the waist.

I am so happy with how this dress turned out!

It is super comfortable, warm, colorful and makes me feel happy. This dress can be worn with endless accent color combos and in multiple seasons. There are no buttons and no zippers, which made it quick and easy to sew. The only money spent to create this dress was the initial $3.00 for the quilt. All of the other materials and supplies were already in my studio. I hope the person who made this vintage quilt would love the new life it has. I love that it is one-of-a-kind and think I will be wearing it for years to come!

What do you think of the quilt dress trend? Would you make or wear a garment made from a quilt? Let me know in the comments, and please share if you have made or own something like this!

Thanks for following along! Happy New Year!