May 2, 2016

Pattern Hack: How to make a Concord T-Shirt Dress


Today I’m going to show you an incredibly quick hack for turning your Cashmerette Concord T-Shirt into a Concord T-Shirt Dress! I made my first one with fabulous Japanese Echino jacquard knit from Super Buzzy in Ventura (and contrast sleeves and neckband in black jersey) and it’s already a firm favourite. So comfortable! So fun! And depending on how much length you add, it could be a tunic, midi or even a maxi dress. If you’re looking for more Japanese knits, you should totally check out Miss Matatabi who has tons.

CashmeretteConcordDress3small

The shaped side seams of the Concord T-Shirt really lend itself to a great dress, as it fits and skims in all the right places.

Cashmerette Concord T-Shirt Dress
CashmeretteConcordDress4small

OK let’s get going!

Choosing fabric for your Concord T-Shirt Dress

Before you start, bear in mind that a Concord T-Shirt Dress is best made from slightly different fabric than the classic T-Shirt, which is great in jersey. For a dress, you want a little more structure in the fabric so it doesn’t cling, so I recommend using heavier knits like the jacquard knit I used, double-knit, ponte, quilted knits or anything else with a bit of weight.

Because heavier fabric usually has less stretch (my fabric had 10% as opposed to the recommended 20%) I recommend you make a slightly larger size than usual – I went up a full size to a 20 G/H; if you want your dress to be looser than mine, you might even want to go up 2 sizes (if you want the same shoulder fit, simply grade out to the larger size from the bust down).

How to alter your pattern pieces

On to the pattern hacking:

1. On the front piece (1 A/B/C), cut across the “shorten/lengthen” line.

Cashmerette Concord T-Shirt Dress Hack

2. Move the bottom piece down by the additional length you’d like to add – in my case, I lengthened it by 7 inches because that’s exactly how much fabric I had to play with (I’m 5’6″, and this led my dress to be about 4 inches above my knee).

Cashmerette Concord T-Shirt Dress Hack

3. Place a piece of paper under your pattern piece, and tape.

Cashmerette Concord T-Shirt Dress Hack

4. Trim the paper to be aligned with your pattern piece – simply “join up” the pieces.

Cashmerette Concord T-Shirt Dress Hack

5. Repeat steps 1 – 4 with the back piece (2), inserting the same amount of length

6. Proceed to make your dress in exactly the same way as the T-Shirt.

So that’s a super easy way to get a curve-friendly knit t-shirt dress. I’m already planning my next three…

Cashmerette Concord T-Shirt Dress

 

9 thoughts on “Pattern Hack: How to make a Concord T-Shirt Dress

  1. Meg says:

    Cute!!

  2. PsychicKathleen says:

    I’m going to do this! I have the Concord and some really nice weight ponte rayon knit 🙂

  3. Caitlin O'Connor says:

    Ok, I was still hesitating about buying the Concord… Now I’m completely sold! Why didn’t I see this! Brilliant! Love your work, Jenny!

  4. Diane Wilson says:

    Thanks! My daughter wants a t shirt dress, and this is perfect! What’s really cool, is this pattern has been on my wishlist for ME!

  5. Darlene M Everett says:

    I am sold on your patterns. I have the Concord as my fist pattern with you and will definitely turn it into tunic and a maxi in the summer. I appreciate your time and talent so that plus size women can look as attractive as their counterparts. Thanks.

  6. Beth says:

    I’ve made the concord T, now I’m working on my first Tunic/Dress hack. Is the front pattern piece a little bit longer than the back piece, or did I make a mistake. I wanted to check before I lengthened both.

Let me know what you think!