Fall is here once again. My absolute favorite time of the year. Filled with goodies, adventures, and lots of celebrations. In my circle of family and friends, we have lots of birthdays this time of year. I’m constantly searching for something to wear at the last minute. This year I thought, why not make something new to wear. I was looking for something cute, casual, and simple. I also wanted to something to match with my kiddo. I have been making Mama Stella’s like crazy lately so I thought, why not hack it into a dress? The Rayon Spandex from Phee Fabrics is perfect for this! It’s thick enough that you can’t see through it, but so soft and light that I just want to live in it. The Mama Stella and Stella are designed by Made for Mermaids. Lots of options with that pattern and lots of way to hack it.
I took the Mama Stella and completely Frankensteined it. I wanted it to be off the shoulder on both sides so I cut the bodice pattern piece in half so it would be off both shoulders. This way you will simply cut on the fold instead of cutting out one flat piece.
Then I added to the bottom. There are 3 ways to do this. You can mash a different pattern to the bottom, you can trace an existing dress/skirt, or you can simply freehand it and add on to the existing lines. I measured how long I wanted it to be from my waist and added enough for a seam allowance. I did the same for my daughters. The only thing I changed on the Stella for my daughter was the length.
For mine, I cut out two bodice pieces, sleeves, sleeve cuffs, and shoulder straps. Notice I didn’t mention the neckband. You’ll have to measure that.
For the shoulder straps (I did go back and add them on, lace would be super cute!) I measured on my shoulder how long they needed to be. I wanted them to be wide enough to cover a bra strap so I didn’t have to worry about that. Remember to add seam allowance to your measurements. I cut my 3″ wide by 9″ long. You can go ahead and serge/stitch
them together (right sides facing) and turn right side out.
Construct as the directions state until you get to the neckband. The sleeves go on just like you would for one.For the neckband I had to measure the distance around the neck and I multiplied it by .75 for this fabric. Then I stitched the neckband ends right sides together and clipped into 1/8s. I also measured the neck on the dress into 1/8’s and put them together. I measured in 1 1/2″ from the armcye seams to put my shoulder straps. I did go back and topstitch around the neckbands on both of our dresses.
I love the way they turned out and I can’t wait for us to wear our super comfy dresses out!
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