Pattern hack alert: meet Emily from Self Assembly Required and her #Elma dress

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Making unique pieces, sharing them on your blog or Instagram and inspiring others: the combination of sewing and social media is extremely popular. And because the number of sewing blogsters in the fashion world keeps rising, Fibre Mood puts every month a Sewista in the spotlight who made an original pattern hack out of a Fibre Mood pattern. Meet Emily from Self Assembly Required and her #Elma pattern hack this month. Find out more about her beautiful creation here!

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Hello lovely sewing friends! I’m Emily of the Self Assembly Required blog and I’m here to share my hack of the Fibre Mood Elma dress!

I’ve been sewing for over 10 years (though it feels like a lot longer!) and one of the things I love to do is adapt and hack patterns to suit me and whatever trends I’m currently obsessed by. My recent Elma dress is no exception!

The Elma is a button front minidress from the tenth issue of Fibre Mood (I’ve been a long tine subscriber to the Fibre Mood magazine and I think this has been the best issue yet!). It has all the things I love at the moment – big puffed sleeves, a gorgeous square neckline and princess seams. It’s just so on trend!

To make it even more in line with my current style, I hacked the pattern to make it maxi length!

My guide to the Elma pattern hack

I added 30 cm to each pattern piece to get the desired length (note: I’m only 5’2 so if you’re doing this yourself, add more if you’re taller!). I followed the shape of each pattern piece so at the skirt piece lengthened, they also became more flared towards the hem. I also added waist ties into the seam between the centre and side back pieces as I like being able to cinch the dress in at the waist. I think it helps to break up the shape a little and draws the eye to my narrowest part too. I made the ties with long 4 cm wide strips of fabric which I then folded in on itself with a bias tape maker. 

I used a lovely drapey pink terrazzo print viscose for my version. The softness of the fabric allows it to fall beautifully when worn and it feels wonderful on!

Making things longer is a hack I’ve been doing quite a lot recently – midi and maxi dresses are an absolute must have in my wardrobe as they’re so wearable (just add some white sneakers and a leather jacket!). It’s easy to do and can completely change the style of a garment giving you much more use out of each pattern.

My other favourite hacks to do include adding puffed sleeves or bishop sleeves to everything, adding frills to hemlines and changing necklines. It’s definitely an addictive process, especially once you realise the endless possibilities out there!

Interested in making your own Elma dress? Buy the pattern here!

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