Get to know Meg a little better

PIPIT DRESS HACK

September, 2020

Turning the Pipit Loungewear Set into the Pipit Dress #PipitDressHack

Meg won our latest #HackIt competition by turning the Pipit Loungewear Set into her version of the Pipit Dress.

The Dress features a button down front, sleeveless bodice, gathered bottom tier with a high-low hem and added fabric waste tie. Meg has written a full blog post over on her site, detailing all the steps she took to turn the pipit loungewear set top into a mid-length dress. Meg has also made a super detailed YouTube video tutorial for the more visual learners. She covers the whole process, including some great ways to reduce your fabric wastage!

Not only has she made one, but Meg has now made 2 of these dress’s! We’ve popped a few photos below, however we encourage you to head to Meg’s blog post or YT video (links below) to check out all the details and how you can also hack the Pipit Top to make the Pipit Dress for yourself!

Meg’s tutorials are a great in-depth guide for the hack - an amazing resource!
Thank you Meg xx

Meg’s Blog Post
Meg’s YT Video Tutorial

SPARROW TEE DRESS HACK

Written by Meg
November 2020

When you buy your fabric, do you ever consider where it’s coming from?  The journey it took from birth to finale? How far it travelled to get to the store? What manufacturing processes it went through or the people who played a part in making it come to life? You may answer,” of course Meg! I am an environmental fabric warrior!”  Or like me, you may think “hrrmmm maybe I should be asking more questions?”  

As a Common Stitch Ambassador I had the opportunity to use their very own Australian grown, milled and knitted cotton for my first project. I was pleasantly surprised to see the depth of information Ali & Charlie share on their website regarding the traceability of these fibres from growing the cotton right through to becoming a beautiful bolt of fabric.  I was given 3 meters to play with and decided to use the Sparrow Tee as a base for my design. I couldn’t go past a good pattern hack so I present to you the “Sparrow Tee Dress” 

PREPARATION 

First you’ll need to take your measurements and decide which size to cut.  For reference, my measurements are: 

Bust: 96 cm 
Waist: 81 cm 
Hip: 102 cm 

This put me at a size 14 for the sparrow tee, however I cut a size 12 and added 1cm to the neckline and shaved off 3.5cm at the shoulder.  This was my personal preference to make the silhouette more form fitting than the original design of the sparrow tee.  

Next I decided how many gathered tiers I wanted based on the amount of fabric I had.  Tier one measured 40 cm in depth, and tier two 50 cm in depth.  I also added a smaller ruffle between the bottom of the bodice and first-tier which was 10 cm in depth – I cut 3 of these and sewed them together to create one super long ruffle.   Usually with gathered tiers, you would use a formula of at least 1.5 times the width of the bodice.  The wider the tier, the more gathers.  The cotton I was working with was 154 cm in width and so I doubled that for the first tier and again for the second tier but added an extra 50 cm in width.   

Once you’ve double checked and triple checked your calculations, cut out your pattern pieces. Time to get sewing!   

SEWING  

1. Begin by constructing the tee just as you would in the original instructions. Once you’re hemmed the sleeves, it’s time to work on the gathered tiers.

2. Using your overlocker (or zig zag stitch on your sewing machine) sew the front and back for tier 1 together at the side seams. Repeat for tier 2.

3. Take your small ruffle and sew together at the side seams. I had 3 pieces all connected in a big circle. From here you want to fold the length of the ruffle in half with right sides together. Press and pin. You should be left with a really long folded 5cm in width piece of fabric ready to gather.

4. Gathering – this can be quite time consuming but I encourage you to persevere! Using your preferred method (overlocker or sewing machine) gather the length of each tier and the ruffle. On my @meghandmade instagram page I show you how you can adjust your overlocker settings to easily gather.

5. Start with your small ruffle piece. Pull your gathering threads to gather the fabric. Line up the right sides of your bodice seams with the right sides of the small ruffle piece. Pin in place (lots and lots of pins) and sew.

6. Now repeat this process with tier one. Pull on the gathering threads until tier one is the same width as the bodice. You will now place the right side of tier one on top of the bodice piece. The small ruffle will be sandwiched in between the two. Very carefully line up the side seams and pin in place (again, lots and lots of pins). Sew.

7. Tier two needs to be gathered in the same manner. With right sides together, lay tier two on top of the tier one ensuring the side seams match and the gathers are evenly spaced. Pin together and sew.

8. Hem as desired. I left mine raw due to the nature of the fabric.

9. Put your dress on and take it for a spin!

 
I have to say, this fabric really is lovely to work with.  It’s soft to touch and lovely and breathable.  It has a nice structure to it, a weightiness that I have enjoyed sewing with.  It doesn’t tend to roll back as much as many synthetic knit fabrics do.  I don’t sew with many knits so I was pleasantly surprised with how easy this was to work with. It’s especially nice to know that it’s locally grown. 

If you want to find out more about the journey of this beautifully sustainable cotton, head on over to the Common Stitch journal for a read.  Hopefully one day I can take my #SparrowTeeDress on a road trip to St George and let her twirl in the cotton fields once again. 




All images are courtesy of Meg Handmade, and published with permission.