Last Christmas, my family gifted me the ‘Sew It Yourself’ book by Daisy Braid (a.k.a. DIY Daisy). The book has formulas that guide you through creating your own garment pieces and accessories. What I love about it is skipping the hassle of printing and assembling pattern pieces—just cut out your fabric based on measurements and dive right into stitching! A great gift idea for budding sewists! You can also check out a list of fashion/sewing books that I like here.

Among the assortment of pattern-free projects, the DIY Trace Dress caught my eye! The process involves a super simple method: tracing your favorite fitted T-shirt (hence the name “Trace” Dress) for the bodice and cutting a long and wide enough rectangle for a gathered skirt.

The "Sew It Yourself" book by DIY Daisy is packed with no-pattern projects for clothes and accessories.
The Trace Dress from the Sew It Yourself book is really easy to make.

The Bodice

The fabric I chose for this dress is a polyester blend with seersucker details that I thrifted some time ago. But I needed to incorporate a lining fabric because the fabric is quite sheer. I used the burrito method to line the bodice, hiding the seam allowances inside. It was a bit tricky since this technique is typically used for sleeveless bodices. I ended up doing some slip-stitching on the inside to perfect it. The result? Flawless on the outside and surprisingly neat on the inside!

While working on the bodice, I accidentally snipped my lining fabric and it started to fray—bummer! I raided my stash of laces and trims, found a few embroidered flowers, and patched up the holes. I ended up loving the result! It added a unique touch, and now it has its own little story.

The inside of the trace dress showing neat finishes!
The inside of the dress
The holes have been patched up with small embroidered flowers.
All patched up!

The Skirt Portion

For the main fabric, I gathered the skirt with double-basting stitches and then attached it to the bodice. I didn’t gather the skirt lining as I didn’t want the dress to look too poofy. So I simply extended the length of the T-shirt bodice straight down to the hem of the skirt.

Just when I thought I finished the dress, I started walking and kept tripping over it! Turns out, the skirt lining wasn’t wide enough and kept restricting my walk. I used a seam ripper to undo part of the side seam down to about knee length, then sewed in a side slit.

A close-up view of the side slit on the skirt lining.
Side slit on the lining

The dress is so flowy and comfy to wear. I’ve already worn it several times, including on my trip to Japan! If you love making simple dresses like this, you’ll enjoy the waist ribbon dress I recently shared—it’s basically a rectangle!

The completed Trace Dress is ideal for a leisurely stroll.