Hey, Paige here, back with another beautiful pattern hack. I love a shirt dress, and have wanted to create this Patina dress hack for ages. I got this beautiful floral fabric from Rainbow Fabrics, and I knew it would be the perfect pairing for the Patina Shirt Dress of dreams. This project was part of me Me Made May plans, so I am super glad I managed to make it this month! Continue reading to see how to create this project for yourself.
Pattern Amendments:
I started off by putting on a Patina blouse I already made as a reference, so that I could pin it and measure how much I would need to amend the top. As the Patina is designed to be slightly loose fitting, with a good amount of ease, I had to take some off the sides. Below is a diagram of roughly how much I personally ended up taking off my usual size Medium. I took about 1.5 inches off the side seams, and because of my petite shoulders and frame, I didn't need to extend the armhole, but you may need to alter that slightly.
As well as altering the top to take it in at the sides, I also cropped it just below my natural waist line (the narrowest point of your body). I took the gathered ease off the centre back piece, by folding the yoke piece B in half, lining up the back piece C up against it, and marking how much to remove. I cut the pieces out with the amends made, and made sure there was enough for a 1cm seam allowance.
For the skirt I used the width of my fabric and cut a basic rectangle shape. I didn't want too many gathered around the waist as this can create bulk. As this fabric is on the less drapey side, I knew the width of the fabric would be enough to be gathered in but wouldn't cause any bulky-ness.
For the bottom ruffle, I cut out 2 rectangles, using the width of the fabric again, meaning it is 2X the hem of the skirt panel. This amount of gathers creates a beautiful ruffly detail, and perfect for a flowy feminine look to the dress. If you'd rather leave this off then it's completely optional!
I also drafted a waist belt, again just making rectangles of fabric, 3 inches wide, and as long as needed to tie around my waist with enough excess to have a bow - you will need to decide how much is enough for you depending on your size, and a good way to do this is use a piece of ribbon, or scrap fabric, tie it around your waist and cut where you want it, then measure the amount needed.
I was originally going to add the Sagebrush sleeves to this dress (like in the photo above) for some puff sleeve drama, but sadly I didn't have enough fabric. Thankfully I did have enough to make my own bias binding, and so I ended up creating a sleeveless Patina Dress instead. I'm glad it worked out this way as I actually think I will wear it a lot more with no sleeves! The binding is made using this method from our education post.
Sewing Steps:
The sewing for this hack is easy peasy! Follow the usual sewing steps for the Patina, until you get to the sleeves, as you will be skipping that part!
Once you have added button holes, overlap the button placket at the hem, and baste one side (wearers preference) over the other side.
Sew your skirt panel down the small edge, and finish the seam edge. Add 2 rows of long gathering stitches to the top of the skirt panel, if you have a directional print like I did you will need to double-check and make sure you're adding your gathers to the top!
Pin the skirt panel to the top hem, with the skirt seam at the centre back of the top. Pull in the gathering stitches until the skirt panel is the same width as the top hem, pin right sides together, and sew all the way around with a 1cm seam allowance. Finish the seam.
Repeat this process with the ruffle tier if you're adding this.
Belt:
Sew the belt by folding in half and stitching down the long edge, leaving the top and bottom open. Using a safety pin, turn it through to the right side. Give it a good press so the seam is on the edge. Turn under the ends into the belt, pin, and edge stitch, you may need to use a piece of paper (or my fave post it note) to start the stitch on the edge so the machine doesn't suck it down!
Bias binding:
Create bias binding like in this educational post we have put together. This will be sewn around the armhole. I didn;t need to amend the arm hole, but you may need to scoop the underarm a little lower after taking in the sides, depending on personal preference. As I am petite, I didn;t need to open the arm hole any wider.
Right sides together sew the bias binding to the armhole edge, leaving a few inches of the binding free at the start of the stitch. Stitch all the way around, until you get 2-3 inches away from the start and backtack. Pin your loose bits of bias binding right sides together, meeting them in the middle of the opening, and pop a pin in to mark where they will meet. Stitch across the binding, pushing your armhole out of the way, cut away the acess binding and press the seam open. Now finish the stitching around the armhole to close the 2-3 inch gap. Press the binding away from the armhole, includng all the seam allowances. Fold over the binding, and fold again so the seam of the first stitch is on the edge of the armhole, press and pin the binding under, then stitch in place all the way around. Repeat on the other side.
Optional* You can add belt loops to the sides of the dress to hold the belt in place, but I left them off so I can wear it with and without the belt, my hips keep the belt in place anyway haha!
That's it! I hope you liked seeing the process of this hack! It's such a gorgeous and easy dress to wear, I know I'm going to get a lot of wear from it this summer! I'll be styling it with chunky sandals, and a denim jacket.
Shop the Patina Blouse here.
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