Last week I posted the picture below asking people via social media for their opinion on what dress I should make using this pattern.
The end tally was a tie between dress A and dress E. I decided to go with dress E since I had already made a dress using the same pattern with the gathered waist in dress A.
I used to think that patterns had to be done exactly as instructed in order to work. Overtime, I have learned that you can use them more like guidelines once you have a basic understanding of clothing construction. Altering a pattern to meet your needs is actually very simply. I liked the general look of the dresses in this pattern, but needed to alter the pattern to meet a few different needs in order to make the dress I envisioned:
- Knit fabric
- I wanted to use a stretchy knit. Instead of cutting two back pieces, I cut one on the fold. This eliminated the need for the zipper and a slit that would be useless in a stretchy dress.
- Lining
- Because my fabric had laser-cut designs, I needed to create a lining for it. I essentially made two dresses and retrofitted them together since that wasn’t part of the original pattern.
- Length
- Although it looks knee length on the pattern cover, I know from making it previously that it wasn’t. When I cut my pieces, I added about 2-3 inches in length. If you look at the other dress I made, you’ll see that I had to add lace to lengthen it (though it looks great on my beautiful, and significantly shorter model.)
- Sleeves
- I opted not to add the cuffs because I wanted a more streamlined look.
Here’s what the original pattern looks like.
Here’s how my dress turned out.
Once I had the epiphany that patterns can be flexible, a whole new world of creativity was opened for me. Though I mainly love to refashion, I still recommend trying a pattern every now and again because it teaches you so much about clothing construction.
For your information, this is what my pieces looked like before I put them together. You can see that I essentially made two dresses. Don’t mind the difference in coloring, I changed the white balance between pics.
Don’t want to sew? Here are some similar laser cut dresses you can buy ASAP.
