If I had to pick my pattern of the year, the Nina Lee Park Lane dress. It’s the pattern I never knew I needed until I had it and then I couldn’t stop making more!

This time I was inspired by the brand Yolke who for whatever reason kept popping up on my Instagram feeds (darn ads!). Their Evie dress was totally up my alley in style but not my price range so I felt it was only appropriate to make my own!

The Park Lane dress was the immediate pattern that came to mind as the bodice gathers were just so simple. In fact, this dress kind of reminded me of a floral Park Lane I made earlier this year. I could see straightaway what kind of changes I would need to make to achieve this look. When inspiration strikes, who am I to deny it?!

Fabric wise, I opted to shop the stash. In honour of today’s virtual Lilac Lovers Party hosted by Pigeon Wishes and Cut One Pair, I thought I’d finally use the lilac leopard print hammered satin I had! This is a fabric that I got in Paris from Sacrés Coupons a couple of years ago. It was so bold and bright that I couldn’t leave it behind but it’s taken this long to find a good project for it!

The pattern hack:

+ I cut the back bodice pice on the fold and eliminated the keyhole opening at the back neck.

+ I drafted a few front facing that extended down to where I wanted the front keyhole to go. When I stitched this in place, I stitched a long narrow deep V over the facing to the front bodice which I then snipped into to turn out.

+ I added two long rouleau loop ties to the new front keyhole opening.

+ I used the collar stand piece and doubled the length of it to create the neck ruffle. The ruffle was finished with my rolled hem foot and gathered as a single layer which is what the inspo photo does. I’m guessing it’s to help reduce the bulk!

+ For the sleeve, I added a narrow cuff and a ruffle. The cuff part is lined to give a really clean finish on the inside.

+ This time I trimmed the skirt length by 10cm and added a longer ruffle to the hem as I wanted the ruffle to start closer to the knee this time.

+ I kept the side zip and also added in waist ties into the side seam for a bit of extra shaping here.

So a lot of little changes to the base pattern and lots of added extra ruffles which really seems to be a trend that’s not going anywhere.

Here’s the final result!

It’s a pretty good replica of the dress though if I was being really picky, I would’ve pleated the collar and sleeve ruffles instead of gathering. Realistically I knew I didn’t want to do the math for it though!