I’ve been lucky enough to work with Chalk and Notch, testing and launching Women’s Waterfall Raglan, a great casual cut swing top and dress, and if you’ve been following the blog tour, as you’ve seen for the past few days, she can make super cute outfits that will take you out of the playgroup all night long and you can even match up with the little girls in your life!
But today … well, today is my favorite thing. Today it’s all about hacking. I love hacking and although I am not as adept as Miss Emily, I am always ready for one. So get your pattern copy, get inspired, and be sure to read through for an Ahh-mazing gift to win fabric, pattern and sewing kit!
{Also … please don’t be careful not to wrap the sleeves and frills …. I have a cover sewing machine for a birthday present from my husband … and he told me about it … so I’m waiting to cut something else until he comes 🙂 }
This could possibly be the easiest hack ever. I love him. And the bonus is basically no skills so anyone can do it! I was going to a boxed gathered top, so I had to remove part of the swing, remove the pleated hem, shorten everything and lift the ruffle up. And this top creates the perfect look because even if you remove some of the ‘swings’ on the sides, it’s still loose. So without further ado, here’s how you can create this with just 1 yard of fabric, a ruler, a pencil and a female waterfall raglan pattern!
To start – I made a size 12 at the time of testing, but I am 5 months postpartum and the weight has finally started to drop, so this version is a 10 and I can even do an 8 if I want to lift more width across the corset. You can decide how small you want to shrink or go with the size you measured. Downsizing it still gives a loose top, especially if you’re using a really draped fabric like rayon or modal.
one. Remove width: Take a ruler and pencil and draw a straight line from the armpit to the hem. This will eliminate some of the swing inside the shirt, but not all, because everything else has added width for a swing top. This will only allow it to be hung on the side. Repeat this with front and back corset pieces.
2nd. Shorten the front: I’m 5 feet 8 years old and I don’t add or subtract any length to this pattern in its original form. But for this cut to be shorter and narrower, I want a shorter, straight skirt in the front, so I drew a straight line where the pages were taped together (where all the b letters meet). This may be different for you depending on your height or where you want the pickers to hit. I wanted my waist to hit where it was natural. I will actually have to shorten it even more than I did to achieve this, as the gathered frill pulls down the corset once it’s on.
Just do this forward.
3: Shorten the treadBefore doing this, you need to make sure that your front and back corset pieces will join at a 90 degree angle, so overlap your front and back pieces and mark the side of your back piece. fits in front of you. You need to match the armpits and lay them flat on top of each other. I parted mine to see it right 🙂
I wanted my skirt to be a little longer in the back, so I bent the hem a little bit and just released it … obviously …
You can now cut your new pattern pieces, stick them on your favorite tracing paper (I use freezer paper), or fold your original pattern onto the lines you’ve just drawn (I’m doing this … because … # lazy … also … # saveatree)
4.Fix the ruff: Since I was going for a boxed look, I didn’t want the hem to go up the sides, so I made the crease one height, the longest part of the pattern piece. I placed the frilly pattern piece on my fabric, placed my ruler over the pattern piece, aligned the short edges to the fold of the fabric, and then drew a straight line on my fabric. Then repeat and cut 2 of them.
5. Cut out all the remaining pattern pieces normally and start sewing! I guarantee you can take any size up to 12 a yard. I think I shorten my ruffle pattern piece by an inch (folded – so 2 inches in total), but that doesn’t matter because we removed a lot of width across the bodice.
A note on picking: This fabric is double brushed poly (from So Sew English) and my sewing machine is not sewing brushed poly …. just place it and I have very little success in stabilizers so I collected this on my overlock machine. Knitting with an overlock is not ideal because it eliminates stretch, but since this is a loose top, no stretch is necessary. Also, it is very quick to assemble on an overlock machine, I love it. I have a Brother 1034D and these are my overlock settings, (all other settings not shown, remain the same as normal overlock) and a hidden look at my dirty overlock … who really cleans theirs?
And here’s what the collectors look like. It works really well for me. It makes the ruff a little too short, but it’s easy to gently separate the gatherers and get them the right width for the bodice.
Sew everything according to the instructions in the pattern and – viola! You are done and you have a beautiful top that can be worn and worn with anything.
If you sew one, be sure to plant it by February 12th and tie it to the link lot. here For a chance to win $ 50 for stylish fabrics and a sewing kit!
Day 1: Day View
Day 2: Appointment Night
Day 3: Hacks