Last stop on our Olive sewalong, and its one more fun hack – a shift dress! And guess what? It has pockets! Of course, you don’t have to include the pockets. I know we all love pockets, but sometimes they can kind of ruin the silhouette of certain shapes, like this. BUT I wanted to make sure to include it as an option! Anyway, the process of extending the top into dress length is actually pretty simple, even if it seems photo-heavy below (I just went into detail!)

So you wanna just see? Let’s go!

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Today’s Olive hack is probably my favorite one! Have you noticed the trend lately of elastic, cinched in tops? Either elastic above the bust, or at the waist, or both? Well since the Olive top has an optional cropped length cut line, I thought I would give it a try! It’s actually pretty easy. You don’t have to change anything with construction until you get to the hem – just create a casing and add some elastic!

Want to see how I did it? Let’s go!

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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…

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Well folks, we made it. We’re on the last, and easiest, step of the Olive construction – the hem. Seriously, its only a couple of simple steps. And its the same for any version you make – I’ll show you on a blouse, but the same goes for the dress hem, as well. And the long sleeve hem, too!

Ready to finish up?

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Who here is making the dress version of the Olive pattern? Well today is all about you, because we are going to go over how to sew in the pockets and attach the skirt! A simple gathered skirt with anchored inseam pockets – easy peasy. You got this!

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