Hi Emily!

I really love your Q&A series—it has become a highlight of my weekend to receive it!

My question is about using border prints. I recently scored some vintage cotton meterage with a gorgeous border print that I’d love to turn into a dress—perhaps View B of the Acton dress. However I am not sure how to approach the curved hem of the Acton dress with a border print. Any tips? Or is it best to choose a different pattern with a straighter hem? Many thanks!

Meg

Sydney, Australia

Hi Meg,

I am thrilled to hear that you are enjoying the Q&A series and it has become a highlight of your weekend. I love creating it and when I hear from happy readers it makes my heart sing.

This is a great question! I think you could make a border print on the Acton dress work.

I have come up with a couple of options for you:

add seam lines

You could add some seams into the skirt, so that you could then cut all pieces on the straight grain. This option might not work with all prints and it probably depends on how you feel about cutting the print.

To do this:

Step 1

Draw a line through the pattern as illustrated.

Step 2
Cut along the line to separate the pattern into two pieces. As you can see. By splitting the piece in two, you can now get the hemline much straighter on both sections of the piece.

Step 3

Mark a new grainline on the side section of the skirt (you will want it to be perpendicular to the hemline) and label the pattern piece. Add seam allowance to each side of the cut line (I would suggest the same amount that is on the side seam for consistency). You can also add some notches to the seam so that you know which side connects to the centre panel and which side is the side seam.

You will need to repeat this for the FRONT SKIRT pattern piece too.

change the shape of the pattern piece

The other option would be to redraft the pattern piece with straighter lines. I haven't done this, so I'd suggest making a toile first to check the wrap still works in the way you want it to, before cutting into your special vintage fabric. I think it would need to look something like the above illustration so that you get a nice straight hemline as well as a fairly straight side seam.

I did a bit of Googling to see if I had missed something with my answer and came across this forum on the topic. One of the ideas that popped up that I hadn't thought of was that you could cut off the border and then add it to the hem line (after you have cut the pattern piece so it is shorter (to allow for the border print to be added back on). It might require some small darts in the border print to get it back on. I think this method would only work with particular types of border prints, but it might be worth considering.

I’d love to see a photo of your Acton dress if you do choose to go ahead with this!

Happy sewing,

Emily

resources mentioned in this issue

The Acton dress pattern can be found here.
Adding pattern markings to your patterns. Tutorial can be found here.
How to add seam allowance to a sewing pattern. Tutorial can be found here.
How to add panel lines to a skirt pattern. Tutorial can be found here.
How to (and why) make a toile. Tutorial can be found here.
Border print on a curved hem. Discussion forum can be found here.
The Q&A series archive can be found here.
Making a plan for the year / quarter. Issue can be found here.

P.S. Would you like to know what the Q & A series is all about? This page tells you a little bit more about the motive behind the series. Past issues from the Q & A series can be found here.

Don't have a question, but found this newsletter helpful? I'd love to hear from you! Get in touch and say hi.

sign-up to receive the weekly q&A in your inbox