LAURENCE TOP

DRESS HACK TUTORIAL

 
 

The Laurence Top can easily be hacked into a dress with gathered tiers.

This tutorial will show you step by step how to adjust the pattern piece to create a cropped bodice, and how to calculate the pattern pieces required for each gathered skirt tier.

There are so many great variations of this dress by simply changing the tier height proportions. I would encourage you to be creative and different ideas to make your own unique design.

PART 1: ADJUSTING THE BODICE

 
 

1. Close the Dart

Begin with your bodice front pattern piece. Cut the dart out and tape the dart sewing lines together. The pattern piece will not lay flat for now since you are shaping it but this is ok for now.

2. Draw the new side seam

Draw a line starting from the armpit down vertically to the hem. Untape your dart and let the pattern piece open up and lay flat again.

3. Draw the new dart

First draw the dart centerline starting from the bust apex. The line should be right in the middle of the dart triangle. Extend this centerline out towards and beyond the side seam.
Then extend the side seam line at the armpit towards the dart centerline you just drew.
Then connect the end points of your two side seam lines to complete the dart cutting lines.
Mark your hem notch now by drawing a line from the outer point of the angle at the hem.

4. Draw new side seam for the back bodice piece.

Now take your back bodice piece and draw the new side seam. Start at the corner of the armpit and draw vertically down towards the hem.
Mark your hem notch now by drawing a line from the outer point of the angle at the hem.

 

2. Prepare your guide lines and cutting lines.

Draw your stitch lines at the sleeve head and sides. The seam allowance is 1/2” (1.2cm) for both of these seams.

Draw a vertical line down from the center cap notch to the sleeve hem. Cut the paper pattern along this entire line.

Draw a horizontal line from armpit corner to armpit corner. Cut the paper pattern along this line but do not cut through the armpit stitch line corners. These will be hinge points. Cut a notch into the seam allowance to but not through the armpit corners.

 

3. Lay a piece of paper beneath your pattern pieces. Draw two vertical lines parallel to the center vertical cut line, offset on each side by the half of amount you want to add to the bicep width. These are your target lines.

4. Now you will pivot your pattern pieces to add with to the bicep. Hold the center top and bottom of the sleeve pieces together, keeping them aligned to the center. Pivot the pieces out to create a gap in the center. Keep pivoting until that gap is the same width as the width between your target lines.

In this diagram, the dashed line shows the original pattern piece shape. You can see that the sleeve cap has been pushed down a bit and the hem pushed up a bit to make the pattern piece wider.

5. Tape your manipulated pattern pieces together to secure them in place.

Smooth out the curve at the sleeve cap by drawing a new curve. If you are adding more than 1” of bicep width, see below for further instructions at step 6B.

True the sleeve hem by drawing a horizontal line.

 

6A. Cut out your new pattern piece and proceed with the sewing the Orchards Dress per the instructions booklet.

ADDING MORE THAN 1” OF BICEP WIDTH

If you are adding more than 1” in the bicep width, the sleeve cap will become too distorted and a couple additional steps need to be done to fit it back into the armscye.

6B. Trace the original sleeve head (see small dashed lines in this diagram) onto your pattern piece, roughly between the notches. Smooth out the curves if it doesn’t match up perfectly.

You will notice now that the sleeve seam length is longer than the original seam length due to the added height and width. This means that it will not fit into the original armscye. You will have to adjust the bodice to add some length to the armscye.

7. On your front and back bodice pieces, drop the armpit by drawing a longer curve. Drop the armscye the same amount you added to each side of the bicep.

8. You can also choose to lengthen the armscye by dropping the armpit and widening the bodice. This is a more balanced approach to adjusting the armscye.