Jessica Dress – The Remix pt.1

HAPPY #hacktober y’all!!!… oops I meant October. Or did I? *thinking

October is always a busy month for me. Both my husband and daughter are Libras and my Octobers are usually reserved for party planning and the likes. But, when I saw @scarletstitchonline rebrand October as #patternhacktober, in celebration of her birth month, I just HAD to jump on board. Because, who doesn’t love a good pattern hack? I hit up my sewsis @sewstartino about doing a collab and she was completely here for it! 

F.Y.I. – Just in case you have no clue what I’m on about, pattern-hacking just means taking a sewing pattern and making aesthetic changes to it. Ya know, putting ya own spin on it! Soooo, now that you’re all caught up, let me tell you about the pattern Tino and I decided to hack!

It’s the Jessica Dress by Mimi G! Even more exciting (at least for me) was the decision to use animal print fabrics! On a side note, my love for animal print fabrics inspired my #wildaboutlife collection (which I am currently working on) so this make fits right in!

Can I tell you that I realllllyyyyy really like this pattern, so much so that I’ve made it 5 times! I think it’s pretty safe to dub this one a ‘TNT’ (tried and true) pattern. The original Jessica dress is a button-down, tea-length dress with a sweetheart neckline, princess seams, a gathered skirt and big patch pockets. At least, that’s what the pattern is supposed to look like. But then I went all ‘Chainsaw Massacre’ on the pattern and came up with 2 different hacks. I’ll tell you more about hack 2  (featuring shirring) in a later post so keep an eye out for that one! 

My love for animal print runs deep y’all…!!! So you won’t be surprised that my last purchase from Mood Fabrics consisted of 4 different animal prints, 3 of which are featured in this dress! Hold up one cotton picking minute! Did I just say 3 different animal prints in one dress? Yes! Yes.I. did!

I just could NOT get the idea of an animal print, pattern-clashed dress out of my mind and since 3 of the animal print fabrics were colour-coordinated, I figured why not?! I was flipping through my pattern catalogue hunting for the puuurrffect pattern to help me execute my idea. I came across B5982 (now OOP) and immediately the skirt on view B jumped out at me! It has a flat front with pleating and gathers at the sides, which I find creates a nice silhouette.

Though I’m no expert, I do enjoy playing with print combinations. I am well aware that print mixing can either be FAB-U-LOUS or downright gaudy. There is no ‘in between’. One of the tips I’ve picked up along the way is that, like in many other facets of life, when mixing prints, SIZE MATTERS! lol. When laying out my triple-layer skirt, I organized the prints by size: from smallest to largest (which also coincidentally meant layering them from light to dark). PERFECTO!

Once I finished my skirt, I set about adjusting the bodice. Since the skirt has a back-zipper closure, I hacked the bodice to remove the buttons at the front and substitute for a zipper back closure. To do that, I removed the button placket overlap from the front bodice piece and cut it on the fold. I then added a 5/8” seam allowance to the back bodice to accommodate the zipper. I also lined the bodice instead of using the facing because I wanted to enclose the waist seam for a clean finish on the inside. Instead of the regular straps, I cut 4 of the strap pieces and did tie straps.

I didn’t add pockets to this make. IDK what I was thinking… clearly, my brain malfunctioned! I was so busy concentrating on getting the layers right and lining them up at the side seams, I sorta overlooked the pockets… SMDH. Despite this inadvertence, I’m happy with my finished dress, which I opted to pair with brown and gold accessories.

As usual, my photos were taken by the ‘dan dadda of photography’ @vipmediamontserrat. I had the photo set planned out in my mind… so PICTURE THIS:

ME.

Rocking my wild outfit.

Walking my pet tiger through the streets!

pssttt pssttt Hey there kitty!!!

Admit it: that’d be pretty epic right??!!! But hey! One can only dream!!! *shrugs. So instead, you got me, in my wild outfit sans tiger!

So guys, what do you think about this hack? Is it trés chic?

Make sure to leave your thoughts on my Insta post, or drop me a line down below!

Please, please PLEASE also show my sew sister some love. Head over to her ‘gram @sewstartino to check out her awesome animal-print remix of the Jessica Dress!

Thanks for stopping by. Gotta luv ya and leave ya…

Until next time.

 

Xoxo

Kris