Neon Necklace Dress

Ellie has a long torso.

So most of her shirts are too short and her belly hangs out.

Lately I've been trying to whip her up some tunics and casual dresses to wear with leggings so she'll have some options other than all her belly tops.

This little knit dress was inspired by a boden necklace dress and a charcoal backpack with neon trim.

{boden usa}                     {backpack}

The inspiration boden dress has rows of the necklaces, but I overlapped mine to give it more of a jumbled necklace look rather than the rings.

I upcycled a boys neon pink t shirt that was on sale for $3.00 for the knit trim and leggings.

The "necklaces" are strips of t-shirt 1/4" wide that are zig-zagged onto the dress. 

I also added just regular pink thread zig-zags between for smaller details.

The pockets have the neon piping along the top as well. 

Neon Necklace Tutorial:

1. Cut out:

-dress

-neon knit strips 1/4" wide

-front and back neckline facings = the same neck and shoulder pattern of dress but only 4" long 

2. Sew facing to dress along neckline with both front and back pieces.

3. Open facings and align front and back with right sides together, sew shoulder seams making sure the dress-facing seams line up.

**You could also sew the facings and dress right sides together at shoulder seams separately, then join them sewing around the neckline, either way works.

4. Pull facing away from dress and zig-zag around, understitching (with a zig-zag or stretch stitch) facing to dress seam allowance to help keep facing down.  

5. Press neck seam with facing down

5.  Take your thin knit strips and zig-zag them to the dress, using the facing as stabilizer.

I drew a path with chalk then sewed it around, overlapping "necklaces" to look more natural.

I also added a zig-zag stitch between knit lines.

You could do lots of unique things or designs with the thin neon strips beyond the necklaces, and could even just use them to embellish an existing top or dress!