Hey Makers!  Happy New Year!  I don’t know about you but I have a lot of big sewing plans this year.  I want to do more pattern hacking and drafting.  First up for pattern hacking is this version of McCall’s 7351.  This pattern is originally a fit and flare shirt dress style.  I knew I wanted to keep bodice portion the same but change the skirt to make it more of a tunic with a high low cascading skirt with some eye-catching contrasts.

To make that happen I knew I would need a fabric with enough stiffness to hold its shape but light enough to still be drapey and have movement.  Enter this Robert Kauffman Chambray.  It is perfect for this top.  It is soft and has just enough shimmer to play well with the gold sequin accents.  About those sequins…I used the matte gold micro sequin which is now sold out but the silver is still available.  I debated between the silver and gold for a bit before deciding on the gold.  Either way, I don’t think I would have gone wrong.

With the fabric picked and ordered, I started making my pattern changes.  Like I said earlier, I left the bodice as is.  To make the skirt I added 3″ in width to the waist of each the center front and center back on the fold. This gave me a bit to gather at the waist creating some soft fullness.  After I had the extra fullness added in I figured out where I wanted my side seam to end. Once my side seam length I was able to set my shortest point in the center front and the longest point in the center back.  Each is 5″ from the side seam, totaling a 10″ hem difference.  I used my trusty French Curve to create the hem shapes. If you don’t have a French Curve, get one!  It makes the perfect curve.

Oh, and let’s not forget the thing we all want, pockets!  You bet this top has them.  I am firmly on team pockets in all the things.

I love this top.  I like it paired with jeans but I am also going to wear it with some of my colorful denim pants too. I think this is going to be a fun top to wear out for date nights.

I still have some sequins left, so expect at least two more garments with sequin accents.  What garments would you add sequins too?

Sarah also blogs about her makes on her blog Musings of a Seamstress and you can find her on Instagram.