FrankenPattern Dress

Often, I will see little details in clothing that I just love, but I never have patterns that incorporate all of the design elements I want. That's where FrankenPatterns come in.

A FrankenPattern is where I take elements from various patterns and patch them together into one garment. For example, I saw this a-mah-zing little top on the Anthropologie website and wanted to incorporate the neckline and sleeves into a maternity dress:

Ruffled Shell top - image via Anthropologie.com

I love the femininity of this top. Anthro always knows how to balance that without making it too froofroo. I think the keyhole neckline gives it that extra little distinction from being just another shell blouse with ruffles on the neckline. So I made this:

I had some green chiffon and took my (out of print) Vogue 2391 and added the keyhole neckline, a ruffle collar, and some little sleeves. I winged it with the keyhole, which resulted in decent, but not great results. I am very happy with the ruffle collar though.

I cut a strip of chiffon, folded it in half, and gathered it. Then I sewed it to the neckline, then trimmed and bound the neckline seam with a strip of bias binding I made from the chiffon. Stitching in the ditch around the neckline allows it to stand up vs. flopping over. I added a hook and eye closure too.

The sleeves were from McCalls 5927 (I took the ones from View C and lengthened them by about 3" in order to have room for gathering).

As you can see, it's much like the other chiffon dress I made using Vogue 2391. Just a little change here and there, and I've got a whole new look. :)

xoxo,