Hello, my name is Debbie Groves and I am here to share with you another pattern mash blog post. My summers are extremely hot, so I love to go for patterns that have no lining but still give me the style and comfort that I am going for.
I am excited to share with you today how I combined the True Beauty Dress and the Be Captivating Dress in a style that I can wear on any occasion.
THE SEWING PATTERNS USED
Now, what I really love about the True Beauty is that it uses very little fabric and the bodice can be worn two ways. The pattern is designed to be worn off the shoulder, but if you shorten the elastic a bit, you will be able to pull the sleeves up to provide full shoulder coverage. Because of these reasons, it is a pattern that I make quite often!
I will also be changing the True Beauty sleeves a bit because I wanted a gathered sleeve.
In preparation to make this dress, print the bodice and sleeve pattern pieces from the True Beauty pattern and the skirt portion of the Be Captivating Dress pattern.
FABRIC CHOICE / NOTIONS
I chose to combine these two patterns because I love fitted, bodycon style dresses, and had only a yard of fabric to make this dress.
I cut a size medium bodice and a size large skirt.
My fabric is this beautiful monochromatic print from Buttons and Blueprints in an athletic knit called In the Myst.
The pattern instructions list 50% 4-way stretch and that will work for this new dress I will be sewing up.
You will also need an additional 1 yard of 1/2” elastic if making the gathered sleeve adjustments.
ADJUSTMENTS AND MEASUREMENTS
To adjust the sleeve and make it gathered, I cut the length of the sleeve between the short and 3/4 length line (about half way between the two lines). Next, I modified the pattern by adding 4” to the underarm seam.
You can add more but I was short on fabric so only added as much as my fabric could allow.
If you decide to add the elastic/gather the sleeve, you will need to take the measurement of your arm circumference and cut 2 pieces of 1/2” wide elastic. The elastic should be 1” shorter than your arm circumference.
Be sure to grade the waist of the bodice so that it matches the waist on the skirt.
SEWING IT TOGETHER
The next step is to sew up the bodice as per the True Beauty instructions which include inserting the elastic into the neck/shoulder. If you would like to wear the dress on your shoulders, shorten the elastic 2 -3 “. Try it on, see how it fits and adjust if needed.
While making this adjustment I realized that I could also wear the adjusted sleeve without the elastic - yet another style to choose from !!
Sew up the skirt as per the Be Captivating instructions which includes the hemming instructions.
With the skirt wrong side out and the bodice right sides out, pin the bodice and the skirt at the waist seams and sew.
To finish the edges of the sleeve, fold the sleeve wrong sides together by 3/4” and follow the same instructions to insert the neck elastic and insert your elastic in the sleeves . Try it on to see if you need to make any adjustments.
You could also choose to just hem the sleeve and not add the elastic.
And you are done! Now you have a beautiful new dress to wear!! I hope you will share your make in the PDF Ellie and Mac Facebook Group so we can all see.
Thank you for reading my blog and to see this dress in action, check out my video here : https://www.instagram.com/p/CgdmqJAOA26/
(Written by: Debbie Groves)
