When thing don't work out as you envisioned.

Let’s talk about bodies. Sometimes you see an outfit on someone else and think, “That looks so cute! I totally want one for myself.” Then, you get the pattern, buy the fabric and make that outfit only to have it look awful! When this happens to me, I need to force myself to take a minute and tell myself that the outfit looking different has nothing to do with me AND everything to do with me. My body is not the same as anyone else’s. The outfit looks different on me but that doesn’t mean that my body is wrong or big or short or …or….or…I could go on and on with negative thoughts as to why this outfit didn’t work for me. Changing my mindset, I decided to make the outfit work for me and my measurements.

First thing, this pattern was amazingly easy to make: great instructions and diagrams. The dress itself is well constructed. You can use this pattern with a few different substrates to have an easy flowing, casual dress. As I am about to describe what was not wrong with my body shape, I felt that I need to give the same positive energy to the pattern and it’s designer (Catalina Dress by Blank Slate Patterns).

The dress itself measured to hit me on the waist a little higher than I usually like. I added some length to the top in hopes of letting the elastic hit more on my hips.

Now, those of you who sew clothing more often than I do are probably thinking: did you make a muslin of it? Yeah, yeah, I know. I will learn at some point to make the muslin but I can’t make a promise that it’ll be consistent.

Back to the dress and how I am going to make it my own. What I love about the piece: the skirt and pocket detail and the top fit, just not sewn together as a dress.

Here is the skirt that I made using the bottom half of the dress.

The Plan:

1.       Separate the skirt and the top about ½ inch above the already placed elastic.

2.       Serge the edge that I just created.

3.       Press the serged edge down and top stitch just above the elastic.

4.       Take the top and the extra fabric and create a Peplum Top!

Dress top turned into a Peplum Top

After I took the time to re-imagine this dress, I was able to create two pieces that I love from one piece that I would have never worn.