I’ve made this Jalie dress three times before (time 1, time 2, time 3). I’ve always made the boatneck top. This time I wanted the cross front but I wanted sleeves too. Anchorage has been chilly-willy this summer so I wanted some sort of sleeve. I figured it wouldn’t be very hard to combine the cross front with the sleeves from the other version.
I think it turned out nicely. The only thing I would have done differently is to add an inch to the bottom of the bodice so the band stays under The Girls. If you read this blogpost, I said I added an inch to the bottom of the pattern piece. Well, I should read my own shit because I didn’t write myself a note anywhere to add an inch on it. Gahhhhhhhhh. I irritate myself sometimes. So this dress is a little snug in the bodice. (Why does my camera keep making my chest a sea of bright white?? It’s not like it’s bright here but my pictures keep turning out crappy. I’m sure there is some setting I’m missing.) I really like the length of the sleeves.
Nothing exciting here, just the back. This fabric is from the San Diego swap meet I talked about here. There is a bunch more of this fabric so you’ll see it again in the future.
Here’s how I did it. I traced the original pattern piece (without the stupid extra inch!) onto another piece of paper but I traced it as if I wasn’t going to put it on the fold.
Then I took my copy (without the stupid extra inch!) on top of the cross front pattern piece, matching the side seams and the CF. I found the same size (I think size S) and traced where the cross intersected my pattern.
Then I compared them just to make sure they would work. This is with the CFs lined up. To make the dress, I cut two of the cross pieces and used the original for the back piece.
Hope that’s helpful for anyone wanting to do the same modification. I’ll probably do this again in the next day or two and add the stupid one inch to the bodice. Gahhhhhhhhhhh. I might have to make it in a fun stripey since I currently have so much fun fabric.
