DIY Tutorial: Easy Breezy Cover-Up

In all honesty, summer is too hot for me to be fashionable – I would much rather lounge around in a sports bra and board shorts! So, for today’s DIY, I decided to create an easy, breezy, beautiful, covergirlup, that I can throw over everything from a swimsuit to a sundress and still look fabulous.

Read on to learn how to make your own cover-up with this super-easy DIY tutorial:

Materials:

• Lightweight Fabric (I used a $2 printed chiffon.) I bought 0.805 yards on a 60-inch bolt, but I suggest you buy at least one yard and then trim to fit.
• Fabric Scissors
• Optional (though highly recommended): some sort of fabric-fusion device. In this case, needle and thread, but you could just as easily use a sewing machine, fabric glue, hemming tape, etc… it all depends on personal preferences and sewing skills!

Step One:

Fold the fabric in half vertically (i.e. a “hamburger” fold). Adjust it so that one end is longer than the other, to create a high-low effect (as seen in the image below).

Step Two:

Now, fold the fabric in half horizontally, into a “hot-dog” fold.

Step Three:

Make a little incision cut about 1/3 of the way from the fold – use the image on the left for reference. Be sure to cut through all of the folded layers as you do so.

Step Four:

Next, cut a partially rounded line, as shown in the top left graphic. Unfold the hot-dog fold. This cut becomes the “hole” for your head. At this point, the cover-up is good to go, but if you want to take it a bit further, head over to step number five.

Step Five (optional):

This step is to achieve a high-quality, not-so-DIY look. To do this, we’re basically going to utilize basic, super-condensed sewing* 101. This step is highly recommended, especially for fabrics that fray/unravel at the edges.

*Note here that I use the word “sew” but there are different options to “sewing”, such as using fabric glue or hemming tape rather than a needle and thread.

The first thing you need to do is to flip the fabric inside-out to the “wrong” side. I like to think of the wrong side as the side that touches the body. Usually, most fabrics are only printed on one side and the other “wrong” side is left blank.

Using the top image for reference, sew the front and back together (as shown with the green lines). You can either sew all the way down (option #1) or just at waist (option #2) t0 create a high slit.

Afterwards, we have tohem it. First, flip the fabric to the right-side out to the “right” side (i.e. the side that people see). To hem, simply fold over an inch of fabric inwards, so it’s on the wrong side (as shown in the bottom image) and stitch it down.

You need to hem everything that’s marked by little red dots in the top image. If you’re lucky, your fabric comes with one edge that doesn’t fray, which you don’t have to hem. If it is unraveling (as represented by purple swiggles) hem this as well.

The Finished Product:

When rocking this cover-up, simply slip it over your head and belt it around the middle, making sure that the front end is the shorter end.

Feedback please:

How do you like to keep cool during the summer? Will you be attempting this DIY? Any other DIYs you would like to see the tutorial for? Let me know in the comments!