Hacking The Davenport Dress To Make A Top by @needleandthebelle

Hey guys, my name is Aaronica from @Needleandthebelle. The Davenport Dress is such a dreamy pattern that coming up with a hack was hard—how do you change something that’s already so wonderful? Well, friends, I did it. In this blog post I share how I hacked the Davenport Dress to be a knit top that’s perfect for the spring and summer seasons. 

When I started out sewing, I didn’t understand that you couldn’t use woven fabrics for knit patterns. But I quickly learned that you can use knit fabrics for woven patterns and that’s just what I did here. Because the pattern is drafted for woven, I didn’t have to use my coverstitch to finish the garment—my sewing machine and serger worked perfectly. So let’s get into what I did.

Materials I used:

• 2 yards of knit fabric of your choosing
• Fabric shears
• Davenport Dress pattern
• 1/4in elastic
• Thread
• Safety pin
• Sewing Machine
• Serger (optional)

 Directions:

1. Cut out the following pieces: 1 bodice front, 1 upper back bodice, 1 lower back bodice, 1 set of flutter sleeves, two of the back skirt pieces, front bodice facing.
2. With right sides together (RST), pin the upper curve (the side you didn't finish) to the neckline of Bodice Front (A). Stitch. Clip curve. Flip the facing around and press.
3. With right sides together (RST), pin the upper curve to the neckline of Bodice Front (A). Stitch. Clip curve. Flip the facing around and press.
4. Take your length of the neckline elastic and attach a safety pin to the end and run it through the tube you created by your neckline facing. Baste the ends of your tube shut catching the elastic in your stitch.
5. Gather the bodice back using whatever method you love most. Attach the back yoke to the bodice back with RST.
6. Attach the front yoke pieces to the back yoke with RST. Fold the neckline down with WST and stitch.
7. Attach the front yoke pieces to the front bodice with RST.
8. Gather the flutter sleeve between the two notches.
9. With RST, attach flutter sleeve to armscye matching the notches. Repeat on both sides.
10. Match the front and back bodice pieces together lining up the armscye and sew. Repeat on both sides.
11. Fold the raw edges of the armscye wrong side together and hem. Repeat on both sides.
12. Sew the short sides together of the skirt pieces with RST. Repeat on both sides.
13. Match the RST of the skirt and bodice. Line up the seams. Sew together with a 1inch seam.
14. WIth the wrong side facing out, fold the seam down on the skirt piece and sew with a 1/8 seam allowance creating a casing for elastic. Leave 1/2 inch open to thread elastic through.
15. Measure the elastic around your waist subtracting an inch. Using your safety pin, thread the elastic through. Close the casing.
16. Hem your skirt.
17. Rock your new top!

I hope you love this hack! I look forward to seeing these all over Instagram Land!

Follow Aaronica on Instagram here

Shop the Davenport Pattern here