Anyway…enough of my rant. Here’s a few pictures of my repurposing a tank top that was too big and a skirt that was too small.

Mood Fabrics

Inside Mood Fabrics

Leather Impact

Inside Leather Impact

My Fabric Stash – it’s not much but I spent a small fortune.

I start with a basic t’shirt block. See my previous post to learn how to transition from one pattern piece to a full dress. The same goes for just a plain t’shirt. The main difference is the length and putting the waistline in the correct place.

To make the basic t’shirt block pattern a little more elegant I decide to make a cowl neckline. The cowl neckline pattern looks really strange, but it turns out really beautiful.

Here is a picture of the finished t’shirt.

And here is the picture of the finished skirt. At some point I will wear them together, and maybe buy a new pair of leather boots to wear in the winter.

This is what the dress looked like last fall.

After I took apart the side seams I had to adjust the cap sleeves. Luckily I was able to leave the neckline alone. Here is the finished dress.

Above is a close up of the neckline. A wrap dress never seems to fit me quite right, but I love the look. Instead of actually wrapping the fabric I just made the trim wrap around my head. I made a v’neck dress and then sewed the neckline trim in place so it wouldn’t move. You still get the look of a wrap dress, but without all the fidgiting. I put the darts in the wrong place, but luckily the dark fabric hides the mistake.

To altar a pattern I always start off with a pattern that is petitable. This is key if you are 5’4″ or under. If a pattern is petitable there will be several lines that will tell you where to cut or fold your pattern. Instead of cutting, I usually try to fold the pattern to keep the original as intact as possible.

To change from a 6 piece pattern to only two you first have to start by making a mirror image of one of the pattern pieces. In this case I folded a piece of paper and put the pattern piece on top of the folded edge. Trace around the pattern, then cut, and you have a full bodice piece. Do the same thing with the skirt. Most pattern pieces have a line that will notify you of the center. You will want to fold here as this cuts out the seam allowance. If the pattern asks you to cut the fabric on the fold, place the fold line on the folded edge of the tracing paper.

After you have one full bodice and one full skirt piece it’s time to put them together. You will have to account for the waistline, so be sure to mark the waistline on both the bodice and skirt. The waistline is where you will attach the two pattern pieces together.

To make a seamless transition from bodice to skirt you must use a dress maker’s curve. Find the curve that most fits your pattern. You will want to trace the bodice and skirt on another piece of paper to make a full dress piece.

Cutting out the dress. See the one pattern piece – sewing is a breeze with only two seams.

I decided to add some contrast by using a remnant piece of fabric from the green dress.

To hem this dress I simply serged the bottom, turned it under and then topstitched – trying not to stretch and pull the knit fabric.

Here is the finished product, which I think turned out fantastic. I can wear it casual or spice it up a bit with the green sash.  Now, I need some green shoes!

You can see I still have a lot to learn about pattern fit.  See how the dress pulls along the waistline and how the neckline droops a bit.

I love the soft color and the eyelets are very feminine

Because the eyelets are essentially embroidered holes in the fabric I needed to sew a lining into the dress. I chose a pretty periwinkle blue.

Darts sewn into the front bodice

The dainty little collar completes the retro look

Finishing the seams with a serged edge

Setting in the sleeves, I chose a flowing cap sleeve

The finished dress, complete with a sash to hold the dress together.

Butterick 4712 is a good start to the dress I want to make

My friend wanted a very “girly” dress. I thought this was “girly” even though the color is predominately blue.

Instead of sewing in a zipper, I decided to use decorative ribbon for the closure, perfect for summer.

Closure with decorative ribbon

Final picture of reversible dress – floral

Final picture of reversible dress – polka dot

Ella’s Monogram

A decorative hem finishes the project.

Reba I hope Ella enjoys the dress (and I hope it fits)

Standard T’Shirt Pattern

In This T’Shirt I adapted the block pattern to a V Neck

Here I changed the neck to a Boat Neck Shape with Lettuce Edge Sleeves

In this Tee I tried the Wrap Neck in a shimmery Velvet

Flip Skirt Pattern

Finished Flip Skirt

Slit Skirt Pattern

Finished Slit Skirt with Slit (and really bad photography)