Have you seen my Burnside Bibs designed by Sew House Seven? I just recently completed, not one, but two Burnside Bibs! After scanning the social media of Sew House Seven, I found out that the top they used when photographing the Bibs was a pattern too. It is the Remy Raglan top by Sew House Seven.

 

 

The story behind the Remy Raglan was that it was a top that was worn in the photoshoot of the Burnside Bibs when the Bibs pattern was released. Many people asked if there was a pattern for the top. At the time, there was not, but because so many people requested it, Peggy got her drafting supplies out and Remy Raglan was born!

It is a very easy pattern to put together. The instructions are for French seam construction however I serged everything to lessen the bulk. I used this printed double gauze.

I am often asked on how to use double gauze. since the fabric textures up when it is washed and dried. I always preshrink any fabric that has a potential to be laundered once it is a garment. For this double gauze, I machine washed and machine dried it.  The texture of the fabric becomes more pronounced which I like. But be aware that you can lose up to 10% of the width in the fabric with the texturing that results so factor that in when buying your fabric.

My personal preference is to iron out the texture before cutting out my pattern. This results in a snugger fit of the garment once it has been completed and washed again however the fabric relaxes as you wear it.

 

Onto the dress hack!

During a particularly hot weather week, a couple customers came in wearing loose, high waist gathered dresses.  Since I loved the fit of the Remy Raglan so much, I decided to cut the top shorter and add a gathered skirt to make a dress.

This is such an easy hack, you can make one too!

To shorten the top, I measured 7″ (plus 1/2″ seam allowance) down from the bottom of the armholes. If you are fuller busted you may want to consider more so that waist seam doesn’t cut right across your breasts. Draw a line across the bodice piece. Make sure you do this to both back and front bodice pieces.

I measured and cut 2 rectangles measuring 40″ wide by 30″ long (my skirt length measured to below the knee plus a hem allowance). These will be your front and back skirt pieces. Fold the pieces in half along the width. This marks CF and CB along the top edge.

If you wish to add patch pockets, do so now while the skirt pieces are flat.

Pin the skirt front to the skirt back right sides together and sew the 30″ side seams.

Stitch 2 rows of basting stitches across the top of the skirt piece starting and stopping at the side seams.  These will be your gathering stitches. (It is much easier to gather the front skirt and the back skirt separately.) I like to sew my basting stitches 1/4″ from the raw edge and the other 1″ from the raw edge.

Pin the skirt to the top matching the side seams and the CF and CB. Gather up the skirt so it fits to the top. Stitch together.

Hem to your desired length.

Voila! Enjoy the hot summer weather with your own cotton double gauze dress.

 

The fabric I used was a cotton double gauze. You can find it here.