A new pattern to me, and one I can't believe I haven't sewn up before, is the Sagebrush Top by Friday Pattern Company. It's one I have seen on my Instagram feed so many times before- I even had it ready and printed in my stash but never seemed to reach for it!
As soon as I got this stunning embroidered chambray in at The Crafty Pie Shop (now out of stock), I thought it would be the perfect pairing. I've always been a fan of a denim dress, so decided to hack the top into a mini length dress as I knew this is something I'd get a lot of wear out of.
The hack was super simple to do and is definitely achievable for beginners. I measured roughly how long I wanted the dress to be. When cutting the bodice front and back pieces I extended them straight down to match this length. Also, to make sure the dress had plenty of room over my hips, I added in a bit of extra fabric to gather in the front and back bodice. The pattern tells you to cut the bodice pieces on the fold- instead, I placed the pattern pieces 1.5" away from the fold and cut as normal (if you have a large bust to hip difference you may want to increase this slightly). I then followed the instructions to sew up the top exactly as normal, except I gathered in the back bodice slightly to make up for the extra room we added in.
Overall, I think the silhouette of the dress is perfection. The puff sleeves are quite statement for a casual dress and I love that there are no complicated fastenings- just a bias bound neckline that ties at the back.
After the success of the dress, I of course had to sew up a top version too! This time I chose our Squiggly Wiggly Double Gauze, because it's super soft and light weight for summer. I think I sewed this in about 1.5 hours because the steps were so fresh in my head, and again I'm in love with the result.
I would highly recommend this pattern for beginners! It's a satisfying sew that would be achievable for all abilities. It would be perfect for a range of fabrics: if you don't fancy a gauze, you could try a viscose for a drapier effect, or even a cotton for a casual piece.
Lots of love
Brogan
xoxo