This hack of the Everyday Chic Dress has been one of the most popular yet. It is so easy to do, probably easier than the original pattern, and I think it works so well due to the type of fabric. It is a lightweight printed crepe from Samuel Taylor in Leeds city centre that I bought on a whim. The price was around £10/m I think.
I have utilised the original dress shape, changed the neckline, lengthened the sleeves and added a large frill to the bottom. Here’s how I did it:
The original split neckline of the Everyday Chic Dress is actually cut into the bodice half way through the instructions. So, just leaving the neckline as it is originally cut, as a round neck, is in fact very simple. You will just have to trim down your facing a little to match.
The sleeves I lengthened from the original ones using a continuation of the existing straight lines of the raglan sleeve. I also slimmed them down a bit towards the cuff using the underarm seam. Try it on first and see how in feels before you cut your fabric down too much, and make sure you leave them wide enough to get your hand in!
I cut the BACK and the FRONT panels of the dress about 10cm shorter than the original pattern. I felt that the extended frill needed to start halfway down the thigh, rather than at the knee.
The frill itself is just a very large rectangle that is gathered along the top edge using a straight stitch on your sewing machine. Cut the length of the dress to suit your taste, and for the width, I just used the full 150cm width of the fabric. This worked OK as my crepe is particularly fine, but if you were using anything heavier, then I think 150cm would end up being too bulky. Maybe 120cm width would be more suitable.
So, be brave and step into the world of hacking. It is the most fun and creative part of sewing in my opinion. You can buy the original pattern on paper or as a download here from the Sew Different shop.
