One Pattern, many looks

I've been meaning to share my summer pattern alteration journey. It started out with a party dress made from Mrs. Chancey's Regency dress pattern:


I liked it so well, I thought I'd try making a blouse from it:


That was ok, but I didn't like how the front gapped when wearing modern undergarments. (I wore period stays for the party dress) Also,because of this, the waistline was too high, and tended to ride up.

So I lowered the "waist" seam about 2 inches, and dipped the pattern on the fold to get rid of some extra fabric across the bust. Problem: it made the underarm seam too high. I don't like having to be a contortionist in order to get into my clothes! On this blouse, I also omitted the back buttons, and did a drawstring instead all around instead. (Lesson learned: never rush through the last stages of a project. Don't look at my seams too close!)




So, final try. I wanted a summer dress with a more modern look. I used the skirt lining pieces instead of the normal gathered skirt-with-train. Tired of making on-paper changes to the pattern, I had my mom pinch out all the extra fabric in front on my toile (that's a practice version in cheap fabric), and I drew a new pattern piece. (also, I cut the underarm seam lower) It resulted in this:



I'm pretty happy!

Pattern Review: Itty Bitty Baby Dress

It really is itty bitty! Designed for preemies or small newborns, it almost looks like a doll dress.
The pattern, available for free from Rae, is super simple to sew, and great fun to customize. My only addition to her instructions would be a recommendation to use French seams--it looks so much nicer.

The inspiration to make these dresses came from my mom, who wanted me to use up some of our fabric stash. (think DE-CLUTTER!!) Some of them may end up as gifts, but my favorites are going straight to the Hope chest. :)

These two were trimmed with piping and bias tape, as suggested on the pattern.

Here I got a little more creative, adding an underskirt of lace to the one on the left, and trimming the hem with lace and sewing an applique to the bodice of the one on the right.

This one is my favorite, because of its vintage look. :)