It is here! We have all been waiting for this dress! The Marjorie Dress by Hazel and Gather, exclusively at DIBY Club!! I am honored to be a part of the Marjorie Dress release tour. I made two dresses to share with you today. I am also going to include a tutorial on how to shorten clothes. I am not sure if it is the best way to shorten clothes, but it is the way that has worked best for me. I am only 5’0″ tall, so I have to shorten almost all of my clothes.
For my first dress I made with the Marjorie dress pattern, I did not shorten the dress at all and made exactly to the patterns measurements. I used a beautiful green and pink floral double brushed polyester from So Sew English.
Honestly, I do not think the dress looks too long for not shortening the dress at ll. It would be great for church, work, or any event you would like a more conservative look. I do not think the front of the dress looks too long, however the back looks a little longer on me with the high low hem.
I decided to take a couple inches off the dress. I prefer not to take more than an inch off in one place. I like to take the inches off throughout the pattern. Since I was only taking two inches off, I decided to choose two places. Many times I take 3 inches out, but I did not think it was necessary with this lovely dress pattern. When I have time and it is a pattern I plan on making many more times (as I will with this one!!), I make the pattern without shortening first. This way I can decide where I want to shorten the pattern.
If you look closely at my hands I am showing where I put a couple of wonder clips on the side of the dress where I decided to take an inch. I like to take the finished dress and match it up to the actual pattern.
It is important to remember the seam allowance when pairing up the dress and the sewing pattern. I then make a little notch with a marker where I placed the wonder clip, then draw a line across the sewing pattern.
When I tape my orginial pattern pieces together I trace it onto this sketch and trace paper. I buy the 24″x 50″ roll, it is large enough for most of my projects. Occasionally I have to get creative. It helps when shortening or hacking patterns and for general storage.
Once I have drawn the first line, I measure down an inch on each end then draw a second line. I then match up the back dress pattern piece on top of the front pattern piece. The sketch paper makes it easier to copy the the one inch area to the back pattern piece. It is important to remove in the same areas of the outfit in the front and back.
Sorry the back pattern piece is blurry. I should have checked my picture before I remove the pieces of the patterns. Next, I cut those pieces out. I then line the new top pattern piece and the bottom pattern piece, to where the top is in the middle as possible.
As you can see the patterns will no longer line up perfectly. I start from the bottom of the top pattern piece and draw a line down to where they should now meet up on both sides. You can see the lines in the picture above. Then, I trim off each of the extra side pieces.
Now both top and bottom pieces should match up nicely. I did lose the notch to match up the pattern pieces for the dress, but just pin or clip carefully. I like to do a few clips by the arm pit, then pin a few from the bottom of the dress. I keep changing sides and meet in the middle.
I decided to take an inch off the bottom of the dress a well. I am not afraid of you curved hem. LOL. I take a ruler and at every inch I measure from the bottom of the dress up an inch and mark it with a dot.
This helps keep the hem curved. I do this with the front and back dress pattern pieces. Then I connect the dots with a line.
Then I take my rotary cutter and trim the bottom piece off of each of the front and back patterns and voila! I now have a shortened dress pattern!! The sketch and trace paper also makes it easier to store and reuse your patterns. You do not have to worry about the taping coming apart or trying to fold the pattern the right way. I just throw my into a zip lock bag!
So easy and convenient!! Now…. Who wants to see my fabulous shortened Marjorie Dress???? Here it is!
What do you think? Do you like the new length? The shortening of the dress is not a huge difference, however it is just enough to look perfect on me! The fabric is gorgeous!! It is from Sincerely Rylee. I just LOVE her fabrics! In fact, this Friday Sincerely Rylee is having a $3.99 clearance sale! You can buy some fabric to make your own Marjorie Dress!! Check it out on my Sewing Events Calendar here, along with all the latest sewing pattern releases, sales and sew alongs.
So run over to the DIBY Club website NOW and buy the new Hazel and Gather Marjorie Dress pattern today while its on sale!! You will not regret it! The Marjorie dress is on sale from September 18-25th, for 7.99 (regularly 10.99)! PLUS, all release week purchases will also include a 20% discount code to the lovely Mily Mae Fabric! If you want amazing advice how to sew a curved hem, please check out Jessica’s, from the DIBY Club, video tutorial on how to sew a curved hem.
Please also let me know if you found showing you how I shorten my clothes helpful? Do you have an easier way? I would love to hear your tips and input, so comment below!
Also check out all the wonderful ladies in the Marjorie Dress Blog tour!
The Marjorie Blog Tour Schedule
September 18th – Seams Sew Lo | Diskordia’s Curvy Sewing
September 19th – Swimming in a Sea of Estrogen | Mama You Can Make It For Me
September 20th – Stitched by Jennie
September 21st – Crafty Momma Drama
September 22nd – The Needle and the Belle | The Petite Sewist
Do not forget to Check out the Seams Sew Lo Sewing Events Calendar and join the Seams Sew Lo Sewing Friends and Events Facebook group!
Here is the sizing chart for the pattern. It comes in a large range of sizes!! It is very flattering for many body types. Especially the Mom bod like I have! It hides my mommy pouch.
4 Trackbacks / Pingbacks