This is the ultimate frankenpattern!

I’ve mashed up that Gertie for Butterick pattern (the one everybody made a few years ago – check out mine here) with a hack of the Cali Faye Dress 47 that I tested last year. So this is kind of a hack of a hack… (It did get me thinking – at what point does it just become something completely new/ original?)

Anywho, I dreamt up the ultimate summer dress to wear for The New Craft House summer party which is Italian Riviera themed this year. I wanted a fitted bodice with a long floaty skirt and I loved the idea of a tie front detail. I had the perfect fabric already – a satin floral print I got in Paris. It even said “Italian style” on the selvedge! 😂

I started with the Gertie dress as a base for the bodice as it had the general shape I wanted including the princess seams on the front. Plus I knew what I needed to do to make it fit well already!

Pattern adjustments to fit:

– I removed 2.5cm from the bodice length.

– I widened the straps to allow full bra strap coverage.

– I removed the seam allowance from the centre back so it would be cut on the fold.

The mashup:

I overlaid the Dress 47 bodice piece over the centre front panel of B6453 roughly where the CFs would be and blended the shapes together. Essentially this meant adding the tie shape onto the front panel of the B6453 bodice.

I did muslin this before cutting into my final fabric. An important step not to be missed as I ended up adding more coverage to the front tie. It was a bit exposed even for me!

I drafted a simple waistband to fit by taking my waist measurements and adding on the extra allowance for the button placket (I always allow a 3cm overlap) and used the width of the fabric as the skirt panels.

Construction:

Sewing it up was the easy part!

I opted to fully line the bodice which means you end up with a lovely finish on the inside. I sewed the lining and outer bodice together first, making sure to turn out the ties properly and press it well.

I then sandwiched the bottom raw edge of the bodice between the outer and facing waistband.

For the skirt I kept it midi length and ended a button placket to the centre fronts. By adding a button placket I mean I added a 3cm wide strip of interfacing to the centre front seam, overlocker the edge, folded it in then topstitched it down. Nothing fancy but it gives the buttons and buttonholes something sturdy underneath.

After that it was just a case of attaching the skirt and finishing the waistband but turning the raw edge of the facing under and sewing it in place.

I added some patch pockets on the front as a bit of an after though!