Giving Patterns a Tweak

A few weeks ago, my husband and I were invited to a  very formal wedding. The dress code was, "black tie invited." I knew that some would wear cocktail dresses, but I really wanted to go along with the formal aspect of the wedding.

I had purchased a gorgeous piece of silk charmeuse from Tessuti in Australia.  The print is of Venice and the colors are like liquid floating across the fabric. I was so happy that I jumped on it when I saw the fabric as it sold out very quickly.

Because it's summer, I wanted something that was easy to wear but would still feel formal. So, I ended up with a simple gathered skirt and a draped blouse that I pulled together with a matching sash.

The blouse is also made from a piece of silk.

I had just enough of both fabrics to create the sash. To give the sash some body, and keep it from collapsing, I interfaced it with 1 layer of fusible knit.

To create the blouse, I used an old Tom and Linda Platt  pattern. I liked the drape of the neckline, but wanted more drape and softness.

Since the pattern is for a dress rather than a blouse, I determined just how much length I would need and then cut away the extra from the bottom.

To create the look that I wanted at the neckline, I simply cut the front open along the center and spread it 3".  

The side seams were tapered in as I also did not want a flared hem.

So often we get lured into purchasing patterns that we really already have in our collection. All it takes is a bit of tweaking to get them to be exactly what we want. So I encourage you to do a thorough inventory of your patterns and the next time you see a design that you would like to recreate, look thorough the patterns that you already have and think about giving them a tweak!