I Used Two Patterns To Make One Dress

For my latest Minerva project, I used two patterns to make one dress. I took the dress portion from one and added the sleeves from the other.

Pattern envelopes — Vogue 8847 & Butterick 6446

The Fabric

For this project, I was gifted this very nice, lightweight fabric. It’s called John Kaldor soft crepe and it’s 100% polyester. The fabric has a gorgeous drape and is very soft like the name says.

This fabric washes and dries really well. I love the vibrant print of it as well. It’s perfect for summer!

The Patterns

I’ve had both of these patterns since around 2012 and 2015. I l For this particular look, I wanted a bell-shaped, flowy sleeve. As the heat and humidity rises when we get into summer, there was no way I was going to make a long-sleeve dress.

The Dress

The Very Easy Vogue pattern is quite easy and quick to sew. While it wasn’t really necessary, I did pay attention to the direction of the fabric when I laid out the pattern. It’s a very loose fitting dress with gathers in the back and front yokes. There are no buttons or zippers, so you can simply pull it over your head.

The dress has inseam pockets too!

woman wearing yellow floral dress with her hands in pockets

Because the dress is very loose, the belt really helps to cinch in the waist. By the way, there were no issues with adding sleeves in from a different patten. The sleeves from the Butterick pattern fit perfectly into the Vogue dress.

Conclusion

While I am a little bit concerned about how comfortable the dress will be when the weather gets hot, I think it will be fine to wear. I am always cold in the summer when I’m indoors and the air conditioning is blasting!

I am so glad I used two patterns to make one dress. The end result is just what I had in mind.

If you’d like te see the video of this project, you can view that here.

Style Arc Olivia Dress

If you ever want a super simple, quick and easy summer dress pattern, the Style Arc Olivia dress may be the perfect one for you.

The Pattern

This is a pattern I actually got for free when I purchased other Style Arc patterns. If you aren’t familiar, Style Arc usually has a couple of choices for a specific free/bonus pattern of the month. You chose one when you’ve purchased a pattern (or patterns) from them.

As you can see from the picture above, the Olivia dress is rated Easy. Be sure to check their size chart at Style Arc if you are interested in purchasing their patterns. The sizing may be a bit different from what you are used to. Olivia is designed for woven fabrics and includes a belt pattern.

My Dress

For the dress I made, I used some fabric I purchased locally at G Street Fabrics. It’s part of the Robert Kaufman “Florence” collection and can be found here. This is basically a quilting cotton with a really pretty print. A print like this is the perfect thing to pair with a simply designed pattern. The “star” of the outfit becomes the print when there’s few details or design elements.

Back view of woman wearing Style Arc Olivia dress

This is a pattern that comes together quickly. The only change made to the pattern for this was to lengthen the bodice by about an inch. I find that often when I have dress patterns that include waistline elastic, it hits me in the rib cage which is uncomfortable for me. I might make one without this alteration just to see how it is.

One future change I will definitely make is to add pockets! Having a place to put your hands (or keys, or a tissue) is just really convenient. They are always missed when they aren’t there-I don’t know what to do with my hands.

The Style Arc Olivia dress features a scoop neck without any buttons or zippers. That’s another thing that makes this so quick and easy to make. You can just pull it over your head and that’s it!

If you’d like to see another easy spring/summer dress pattern, you can take a look at this post . This is a perfect time to start planning your wardrobe for the upcoming season. For me (and those of us in this hemisphere) that means summer.

If you’d like to check out the video review I did, here it is…

Style Arc Sally Jean Skirt

Here’s a garment I made last summer. It’s the Style Arc Sally Jean Skirt pattern and it is really nice! I’m always a fan of denim skirts in the summer because they are so comfortable, easy to wear and can go with so many different things.

The Pattern

The pattern is described as being slightly A-line, which it is. That’s one of the things I like about it. A-line skirts tend to be flattering on just about every body.

This is available in both PDF and paper formats. And as you can see, it’s rated “Medium” for skill level (intermediate).

How I Made It

I used some leftover white denim fabric I had from this jean jacket project. Having had quite a lot of experience sewing my own jeans, I knew that that’s the approach I would take with the construction of this skirt.

I really like the results I got. But getting there was challenging.

Style Arc Sally Jean Skirt Pros & Cons

There are no cons in terms of the style, sewability or wearability of the pattern. I think the pattern is great for the style and I will definitely be making more. It’s a classic that is just MY style!

My cons all have to do with the pattern instructions. They are more than a little lacking in instruction. There are patten parts that are labeled differently than what’s mentioned in the instructions. There are some terms that are different, but I chock that up to the pattern company being located in Australia (I think). Those things are figureoutable.

Front view of woman wearing Style Arc Sally jean skirt

I used a regular jean construction method for making the fly front because I couldn’t for the life of me figure out what they were saying -LOL!

I did not use a twin needle for making the two rows of stitching (as they say in the instructions). Personally, I don’t recommend it because denim can be thick and there will be several layers of fabric to go through. That’s an easy way to break a (twin) needle. I just sew two rows with a denim needle.

All that being said, the pattern is great and I will make this again, maybe this summer! Just be prepared to either use other instructions or have enough experience sewing so that you know what to do.

If you’d like to see the video review of the pattern, here it is.