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lengthening pattern to maxi any pitfalls?
threaddy   Advanced WY USA Member since 4/22/09 Posts: 2309	Login to reply to this post Like this post Date: 6/18/12 9:41 AM In the Plus-size maxi dress topic brissie71 took a top pattern and lengthened it to a maxi. WOW does it look good! Then in the Fave maxi dress patterns topic ConnieBJ mentioned Simplicity dress #2443 could be lengthened to a maxi. Indeed it looks like a perfect maxi pattern. I love maxi's when I am at home. Now I will look at any pattern that goes over the hips even if it is a long top pattern to see if it would work as a maxi. I am thinking just a vent/slit at the bottom to allow foot movement...or a minor amount of width adjustment would work. Does anyone have tips and warnings in this lengthening process? ------ "The problem is not that there are problems. The problem is expecting otherwise and thinking that having problems is a problem." Theodore Rubin "Life isn't about finding yourself. Life's about creating yourself." George Bernard Shaw Bernina vintage and embroidery serger 234 and BLcoverstitch
JEF   Intermediate VA USA Member since 7/27/05 Posts: 2442 Board Moderator	Login to reply to this post In reply to threaddy << Like this post Date: 6/18/12 10:36 AM I think you hit the right points for lengthening one. Good luck! JEF ------ "The trouble with quotes on the Internet is that you can never know if they are genuine." --Abraham Lincoln
brissie71   Intermediate AUSTRALIA Member since 11/6/07 Posts: 798	Login to reply to this post In reply to threaddy << Like this post Date: 6/18/12 3:44 PM Thanks, threaddy!I DO like maxi-dresses, too, but couldn't buy one at the shops with sleeves. I don't run sleeveless dresses much, so decided to look to my existing pattern stash to see what I could come up with. For me, there needs to be enough circumference at the hem to walk normally. I'm not really a dainty person and I don't want to be tripping along, taking tiny steps. To that end, if I was going to lengthen a top or shorter dress, it would need to be made from a knit and have a slight a-line shape to the skirt. If it didn't have that, I would simply angle the side seams out a little to give it that shape. Also, a little bit of gathering or something like that under the bust gives a couple of extra inches. I have found that I don't want massive amounts of fabric around my legs as it just get overwhelming. I haven't ever made a maxi-dress out of a woven before - for no other reason than I LOVE my knits. But I'm sure it would work, you'd just have to be a lot more careful about that whole hem circumference thing, or start introducing slits somewhere. ------ Kelley (Brisbane, QLD) http://simplesewist.blogspot.com.au/
JillyBe Intermediate CA USA Member since 1/20/10 Posts: 3194	Login to reply to this post Like this post Date: 6/18/12 3:51 PM The only other tip I would add to this is to make sure that the seaming where the skirt is attached has enough stability to hold the weight of the extra fabric without distorting the bodice. I'm might just jump on this maxi-dress bandwagon myself - there are some lovelies being made! ------ http://jillybejoyful.blogspot.com/ a blog about creativity, sewing, vintage sewing machines, and...... life :)
threaddy   Advanced WY USA Member since 4/22/09 Posts: 2309	Login to reply to this post In reply to JillyBe << Like this post Date: 6/18/12 7:31 PM Good point about the bodice. This is adding another dimension to my searching for patterns. If I am cleaning and move around a lot pants are better. If I am sewing or doing bookwork I just love the maxi. I live in a cold climate so short dresses just don't work. I could never be June Cleaver. I'd be frozen most of the time in that get up, not to mention a nice breeze up my leg everytime I move....brrrr! ------ "The problem is not that there are problems. The problem is expecting otherwise and thinking that having problems is a problem." Theodore Rubin "Life isn't about finding yourself. Life's about creating yourself." George Bernard Shaw Bernina vintage and embroidery serger 234 and BLcoverstitch
threaddy   Advanced WY USA Member since 4/22/09 Posts: 2309	Login to reply to this post In reply to brissie71 << Like this post Date: 6/18/12 7:33 PM Thank you so much. You have really changed the way I look at patterns! ------ "The problem is not that there are problems. The problem is expecting otherwise and thinking that having problems is a problem." Theodore Rubin "Life isn't about finding yourself. Life's about creating yourself." George Bernard Shaw Bernina vintage and embroidery serger 234 and BLcoverstitch

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