Turn the Ellie & Mac Jennifer Dolman Tie-Front Top into a Dress - An Easy Little Hack!

Turn the Dolman Tie Top into a Dress – An Easy Little Hack!

Hello my name is Ashley from London and I wanted to share a super simple hack for turning the Dolman Tie Top into a dress, and I love how easy this modification is.

Check out the Jennifer Dolman pattern here:
https://www.ellieandmac.com/products/jennifer-tie-front-dolman-top-sewing-pattern... #AD

To start, I copied the Dolman Tie Top pattern. Then I measured on my body to decide how long I wanted my dress to be. Once I had my desired length, I simply followed the side seam lines from the original top and extended both the front and back pattern pieces by 40 cm.

I didn't add any extra shaping at all, just continued the lines straight down from the original hem and drew in a new hemline. That's it! Such a quick and easy pattern hack.

And here is how my Dolman Tie Dress turned out!

After trying it on, I noticed I had a little extra fabric in the back. To see how it would look with a more fitted shape, I pinned out the excess using two darts. I really liked the result, so I measured how much fabric I'd pinned out and added the darts to my pattern.

My darts ended up being 18 cm long. I marked my waistline, then measured 7 cm above and 11 cm below that point to create the full dart length. Once I marked and stitched the darts, the back had a much more fitted look.

After adding the darts, this is how the dress looks.

You can see that's it's brought the back on and removed the extra fabric.

So now you have two ways to wear your Dolman Tie Dress:

Leave it as is for a relaxed, boxy fit.

Add two back darts for a more fitted silhouette.

I hope you enjoy this simple but effective little hack! If you give it a try, I'd love to see your version of the Dolman Tie Dress. Be sure to share your makes, I can't wait to see them!

Hacking The Amsterdam Top by Annie et ses Coutures

My weekends project turned out so cute!

I used our new green check seersucker to create a summer top that can be paired with leggings, jeans, shorts—you name it. Using the Amsterdam pattern from Annie et ses Couture, I modified the bodice by cutting it to an empire waist length. Then, I measured the waist of the bodice and doubled it to create the bottom half, adding plenty of gathers. You can choose your desired length, but I added 40cm to mine. And voilà, a cute tie-up top perfect for summer!

Check out the Amsterdam Pattern by Annie et ses Coutures:

https://annieetsescoutures.com/products/ensemble-amsterdam... #AD

Black & Pink Tracksuit Hack

Another screenshot into real life, I love being able to make my own clothes that fit me just right and mix colours together. I used the Oversized Tee and Good vibe joggers to recreate this look. Using pink and black loopback with white ponte.

I cut the front leg pattern into three adding extra width to count for the seams, added front pockets. Oversized tee I just cut the pattern under the armpit to colour block as well as cutting the sleeves in half. Love how it turned out.

Check out the Oversized Tee by Ellie and Mac:
https://www.ellieandmac.com/products/oversized-tee-pattern...

Check out the Good Vibe Joggers by Ellie and Mac:

https://www.ellieandmac.com/products/oversized-tee-pattern...

Hack: Sweatshirt Overlay Tracksuit with Hoodie

After some fabulous inspiration from my colleague Maria, I decided to attempt making this tracksuit with net overlay. I'm very happy with how it turned out, it adds something extra to the tracksuit.

Using the Oversized Tee with hood from Ellie and Mac I added a neck zipper, then had to section the sleeves and bottoms into three pieces so I could insert the net overlays where I wanted them, not forgetting to add a little extra to each section to count for the seam allowance. Finally I shortened the length of the legs just a little for a three-quarter length look and added my matching rib cuff.

Made using the grey sweatshirt, matching rib and net overlay fabrics.

Check out the Oversized Tee by Ellie and Mac:
https://www.ellieandmac.com/products/oversized-tee-pattern...

And the Good Vibes Jogger Pattern by Ellie and Mac:

https://www.ellieandmac.com/products/good-vibes-jogger-pattern...

The Duchess Jacket Pattern & Hack by Ellie and Mac

Just made this super cool Duchess Jacket is up, follow the hack on Ellie and Mac's blog on how to make it without the skirt. The instructions were so easy to follow and I love how my jacket turned out. I used a peachy pink wool with a cream satin lining.

Check out the Duchess Jacket Pattern by Ellie and Mac:

https://www.ellieandmac.com/products/duchess-jacket-pattern...

Follow the hack on Ellie and Mac's blog:

https://www.ellieandmac.com/blogs/blog/duchess-hack...