The pattern that I have used more than any other pattern is Made by Rae's Flashback Tee. When I was first learning to sew (am still definitely learning) and to sew with knits, I tried this pattern. Because of the high quality and versatility of the pattern, I succeeded in hacking together a couple of t shirts for my son. And they went together so quickly that I didn't have to dwell in the discomfort that early sewing with knits can be. They allowed me to zip along, experimenting and practicing while creating something both totally practical and totally upcycleable. I was in love.
I'm getting a bit braver now. But I still find myself returning to this pattern time and again, though now I tend to want to monkey with it a bit - just for fun. My latest experiment with the pattern was to make it into an empire-waist dress for my daughter. She prefers dresses to pants and I was scrambling to figure out how to make one that made sense within the confines of these freezing temperatures.
This Spoonflower fabric by Hey Tangerine was nice and heavy. It seemed like a good fit for a winter dress. It used to be called interlock but it doesn't say that anymore - still it feels like an interlock and it sews up like that too. Totally cozy, totally easy to stitch on.
In terms of hacking the pattern:
I used the bodice of a dress that I liked the fit of to estimate where the Flashback Tee pattern should be cut. I was making a size 2 and I ended up making the cuts on both the front and back pattern pieces about 2.5" below the armpits. See the black line on the pattern piece to the far left?
I cut two skirt pieces on the fold that were each approximately twice as wide as the bodice piece is once it's unfolded. The bodice was aout 12" across, so I cut two skirt pieces out at 24" each. The skirt length was about 16". In retrospect, I wish that I'd have made it a bit longer.
I gathered each skirt piece and then attached them to the bodice BEFORE sewing up the side seams. I find that when you do this, you can make the gathering more even.
I finished the dress just as I would a standard Flashback Tee, the only difference being that I made the neckband a half inch narrower than the pattern calls for because I wanted a daintier neckline. And I hemmed the sleeves instead of adding cuffs because I wanted another long-sleeve shirt to fit easily underneath the dress for warmth. Today she's wearing it with a high low top underneath and the fit is great!
Have you made other variations of this pattern? I'm hoping to do an A-line dress next with an exposed zipper...
Edited to add: Megan Nielsen has offered up an idea for easily gathering knit fabric by putting elastic thread on your bobbin. I think that her method would be the best way to gather your skirt pieces before adding them to the bodice in this case. Go check it out!
Thanks to Frontier Dreams for providing a space to share.
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