B6244 pattern hack

Thursday, December 15, 2016

I'm in print! I've been dying to share this top secret make for a while now, and I'm finally allowed... Here's my B6244 pattern hack, made up as a part of a pattern hacking feature in the new Sew Style, Stitch Your Size bookazine, which has just hit the shelves!

My B6244 pattern hack

In Sew Style!

I wasn't really sure what to expect when I agreed to take part, but when the the package arrived I was pleasantly surprised! The fabric is a lovely checked Edinburgh tweed from Minerva Crafts (thankfully there was plenty enough to make up my fairly out-there hack come to life). I was asked to make the dress from the Lisette B6244: a fairly straight-forward garment with contrast side panels and yokes. It's not something I'd normally pick, but it's a simple enough design to jazz up with an unusual hack.

Lisette Butterick B6244

My plan was to use the checked fabric to create a Vivienne Westwood inspired number. Adding a shoulder drape seemed like a fairly easy way to do this, and dramatically change up the silhouette of the original dress whilst still showing off the fabric.

Vivienne Westwood inspiration and some sketches

I made a muslin of the bodice (it came up huge so I had to down size) and adjusted the armholes so the dress could be sleeveless. I used some spare fabric to practice draping and tucking something that might look like the shoulder drape I imagined, and borrowed the D-ring belt from my Pulmu Skirt to cinch it in at the waist. Luckily, (as I didn't have an alternative idea) it all seemed to work together!

Muslin and first draping practice

I cut all my fabric out with little consideration for pattern matching - I figured you can sort of get away with a few mismatched checks if you're making something Vivienne Westwood inspired... The fabric was lovely to work with and feels and looks high quality - I'd definitely recommend it and would buy it again.

Close up of the fabric

The bodice is lined, and though I would have rather finished it with a facing, I wasn't confident enough that I'd get it right if I attempted drafting one. There was some minor trauma with adjusting the armholes - particularly the extra adjusting I had to do at the almost finished and lined staged arghh! - and overall, I never fully cracked the perfect fit on the bodice. I'll attribute this to both time restraints and being too lazy to make a second muslin, but it's not turned out so bad (plus the shoulder drape hides all manner of sins)!

Lining stage

The finished thing might just get the prize for weirdest garment I've ever made, but I quite like it. The shoulder drape is removable, so if I'm not feeling outrageous enough for the full on thing, I can at least wear the dress on it's own. I've been mostly wearing it layered over a Rise Turtleneck, sans shoulder drape, but when the occasion calls for it, I'll be there in the full, slightly-over-the-top, thing!

All dressed up for work on a Monday

Thank you to my friend Sara for patiently taking LOADS of pictures, and helping me to pick the best ones to send in for the feature. As a bonus, on the day these photos were taken, someone paid me the ultimate compliment by telling me my dress looked 'very Vivienne Westwood' (yay!).

Drape close up!

Back view

Sew Style, Stitch Your Size is available to buy now in WH Smiths, supermarkets and online, and the B6244 pattern is in there among the 3 free patterns. I'd love to know how other people would have approached this hack - if you have an alternative idea, please let me know in a comment below :)

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