Vintage Patchwork Inset Dress

Hi guys! I hope everyone is having a great week so far! I have been busy with my mom and her new house project. Today I wanted to pop in and share one of my favorite new projects. I am going to show you how to add a fabric patchwork inset to a tee shirt dress to make it a little longer. The patchwork is a little work, but the end result is very fun! Here is my how to:

Here’s What You Need:

*Vintage Fabric Scraps

*Rotary Cutter

*Self Healing Mat

*Quilting Ruler

*Tee Shirt Dress

*Fabric Scissors

*Sewing Machine and Thread

*Straight Pins

Instructions:

First you need to decide how long you want to extend your dress. I decided that my dress needed to be about two to three inches longer to come just above the knee. So I knew my strips needed to be the height of 3″ plus seam allowance. Then I marked where I wanted to put my patchwork strip on my dress. I measured up from the bottom to that point marking new spots every coupke of inches. So if the bottom of my strip was going to start six inches up from the hem then I measured and marked six inches up from the bottom all the way across following the hemline curve. Once you have the line marked take your ruler and see how long the patchwork strip needs to be. I decided I wanted my strips to be 3×4 which would give me a finished size of 2×3 after seam allowance has been sewn. Then I figured out how many times 2″ would go into my strip length which for me ended up being 33, so I cut 33 3×4″ vintage fabric pieces.

Now cut the dress on that line all the way across the dress.

Next you are ready to make your patchwork strip. I made one for the front and one for the back so I could trim the sides if I needed. Start with two pieces of fabric. Lay them right sides together. Stitch up the right side of the 4″ length with a half inch seam. Now, open up the two pieces and take a third piece of fabric and lay it on top of the second piece. Stitch up the side seam. Continue this process until you have a front strip and a back strip. Press open all of the seams.

Lay the strips out stacked on top of each other and lay them out in between the dress and the bottom you cut. My dress was a swing dress, so my side seams were at an angle. So I trimmed each side of my strips to have the same angle plus seam allowance. Then I stitched my strips together at the sides to form a ring of patchwork.

Pin the right side of the top of your strip to the bottom of the right side of your dress. Pin all the way around.

Stitch the patchwork and dress together with a half inch seam. Finish the raw edge of the seam how you like. Press the seam down and then top stitch close to the seam.

Next, pin the bottom of the right side of the patchwork to the top of the right side of the hem you cut off earlier. Stitch all the way around with a half inch seam. Finish the raw edges.

To finish press the seam up and top stitch close to the seam.

I absolutely love this dress! It is comfortable and soft. It is now not only the length I like but it has some extra flair to it too! I love the versatility because you can really make it your own just by the dress and the fabrics you use. It is a great way to fix dresses that may have shrunk some after the first wash. I hope you guys will give it a try next time you need to lengthen a hem. It is so fun! I’ll be back soon with more vintage fun! Until then…

Happy Crafting!