Changing Your Clothes

Shopping, Sewing, Upcycling, Repairing: Make the most of your clothes!

Tag Archives: lining


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Changing a Pattern 3: Details

So far, the changes I’ve made just to get ready to make my jersey dress (Vogue 1305, photo 1) are:

1. Decided to make shorter version (long was the only length the pattern came in);

2. Chose to use a contrast lining, since some of the lining may be visible, due to slits on the sleeve and center back;

3. Chose a larger button than called for (closed with a bias fabric loop which can easily be made larger), being careful to choose one that’s both washable and lightweight.

(Details of the above are in Changing a Pattern; details of the process of shortening the pattern are in Changing a Pattern 2.)

Today, the final detail I need to deal with is that long slit in the center back of the dress, you know, the one that goes from the neck all the way down to there. Tres sexy indeed, but how does one wear a bra with it?? I decided that slit needed some closure (but then, don’t we all?). Continue reading →


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Changing a Pattern 2

The dress pattern I’m using, Vogue 1305 (photo 1) is quite interesting; one side is draped, the other side is not, and there is a loosely-cut dolman sleeve on the draped side (the non-draped side is sleeveless). Slits on the sleeve, center back, and on the non-draped leg are featured. This dress is also fully lined (interesting for a stretch-fabric garment), which means that the color of the lining fabric will show to some extent. (See more about my choice of lining fabric, plus details of initial issues with this project, in my 7/25/12 post.)

Looking at the pattern pieces (photo 2), you can see that the pieces for the draped sides have a shape that’s dramatically different than the non-draping sides; this presented a bit of a challenge, since I planned on making a shorter version of this dress. Here’s how to do it (and note that this is specific to this pattern): Continue reading →


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Changing a Pattern

Here are my project challenges du jour:

First issue: I have a dress pattern (photo 1) that requires 3.75 yards of fabric, but the matte jersey fabric I want to use (originally bought for another garment) is only 2.25 yards long (photo 2).

Solution: the pattern only has one length (maxi), but I wanted it to be shorter anyway, so I’m starting by chopping off pattern parts. Rather surprisingly, I was able to fit the shortened pieces in the 2.25 yards!

Second issue: this dress is completely lined, but since there are slits on the sleeve and center back (and on one leg in the long version), the lining would show at least a bit. So the off-white jersey I already had (photo 3) was not very inspiring. Continue reading →