Ok friends, now that we have gone over all the main construction of the Olive dress and blouse, I thought I would share a few hack ideas with you. To start today, I have a simple one – ties on the back waistline of the dress version. The gathered waist dress version of Olive is pull-over style, loose and flowy. But if you want to define your waist, adding ties in the back is an easier option than adding darts and a zip closure. I actually took this idea straight from Darling Ranges, so if you’ve ever made that dress, you may have done this before! You simple add ties to the back waistline, and then when you pull them in to tie them, it cinches in the waist.
Wanna see? Let me show you…
Cut two rectangular pieces of fabric, 15″ x 3″. Fold each one in half with right sides facing each other, like above.
Sew 5/8″ along the long edge and one short end on each tie.
Trim the seam allowance and clip the corners.
Turn the ties the right way round and press.
Press the open short ends towards one side by about 1/2″ or so.
Along the back waist seam, measure in about 4″ inches from each side seam and mark.
Place the ties centered on the seam of the dress, lining up that turned under short end with the mark you made.
Sew the ties to the dress by sewing a square, and then an X through the square.
Leave the ties hanging loose if you want the flowy dress look, or tie them up to cinch in your waist a bit!
LOOKING FOR MORE OLIVE POSTS?
- Sewalong Intro Post
- Inspiration and Ideas
- Tester Round-Up
- FBA with dart added
- Neckline Prep
- Patch Pocket
- V-Insert Option 1 (clean finish)
- V-insert Option 2 (topstitch)
- Bias Sleeve Finish
- Sleeve Bands
- Long Sleeves
- Pocket and Skirt
- Hemming
- Bonus Hack – Dress ties (this post!)
- Bonus Hack – Elastic Hem Cropped Top
- Bonus Hack – Shift Dress
We absolutely love seeing what you make, so don’t forget to tag your creations with #MNolive and @megannielsenpatterns when sharing on social media, and check out what everyone else is up to!
Don’t have the pattern yet?!
