Hi! It’s Sarah from Sew Salty and Free! When the Forever Flounce Pattern released I instantly fell in love and bought the pattern for myself! It has not disappointed me! I love this top! BUT! I’m naturally more of a dress wearing gal. A shift style dress wearing gal to be more specific. The flounces on the Forever Flounce inspired my vision of this top being an amazing shift dress and I really wanted to try my hand at it!
To do this, I first had to decide two things. First, what pattern could I mash the forever flounce top with to assist me in getting the shift style shape for the dress portion. And second, will I bring the seams of the Forever Flounce top all the way down the bottom portion of the dress? Or stop them at the flounces?
I quickly decided I absolutely love the look of the seams on the Forever Flounce just the way they are and kept them for the dress!
I started scouring my pattern collection to find the style I was looking for to complete the bottom portion of my dress. I decided on the Anticipation Dress!
To start, I measured one of my favorite shift dresses I already had hanging in my closet. This gave me the length measurement I would use when making my new dress pattern piece. My measurement was 36”. I added 1 ½ inches to this measurement. 1 inch for my hem and ½ inch for the seam allowance at my shoulders. So my total measurement was 37 1/2”.
Because the front and back skirt shapes of the Anticipation Dress matched up perfectly, I just used the back skirt piece to create my new pattern pieces. I used the double flounce option for this dress, so I gathered those pattern pieces from the Forever Flounce and laid them on top of the Anticipation Dress pattern piece. I was able to make all of my new pattern pieces out of that one skirt piece making the double flounce option. If you are making the single flounce option, you’ll need to use the front skirt piece as well. I laid all three Forever Flounce pattern pieces I needed out on the skirt piece starting with side panel Forever Flounce pattern piece on the outside of the Anticipation dress piece, then the center back pattern piece of the Forever Flounce in the middle and lastly the front pattern piece of the Forever Flounce on the “inside” or far right side of the dress pattern piece. After placing the pieces, use the measurement you came up with for you length earlier and make sure the skirt piece extends below your Forever Flounce pieces so that together they total that measurement. 
I really wanted this dress to have more of a fitting, shift style shape to it. So I followed the shape of the Anticipation Dress skirt and reshaped the Forever Flounce top. An example of this is pictured below. 
For the remaining pieces I used my long ruler and followed their shapes the rest of the way down the pattern and followed my lines to cut my new pattern pieces out.
For the double flounce option, your new dress pattern pieces should look similar the picture below. The only additional pieces you need are your sleeve bands (or sleeves if you are making it with sleeves), neckband and the flounces.
PHEW! The hard part is over! Now, to continue making my dress, I simply followed the instructions for the Forever Flounce pattern just as they are written!
I love the results! This dress is so comfortable, but still looks so fancy and stylish! It’s perfect for a date night with the hubby or for a night out with the girls! Mashing the Anticipation Dress and the Forever Flounce Top was so much fun and I hope inspired you to create your own Forever Flounce dress or to mash this beautiful top with a different pattern to create the outfit of your dreams! 
(Written by: Sara Lewis)
