One of our most popular dresses at CKC right now is Cosette's Knit and Woven Dress. Our fans love that it is comfy and fitted on top and then frilly and ruffly on the bottom using our favorite woven prints. Sometimes we like to take the quick route on Cosette's by using a store-bought shirt for the bodice and we have had a LOT of requests for a blog tutorial. So here you go! First we have a step-by-step photo tutorial and then we even have a video where Morgan, the creator of Cosette's, will show us how it's done.
To begin, you need to print the bodice piece for your size using the Cosette's pattern. Then turn your store-bought shirt inside out and place the piece on top of it with the shoulders lined up.
Use a ruler to cut straight across the bottom of the bodice, as shown above. Your shirt is now the length of Cosette's bodice pieces.
Next, you need to rip open the side seams of the shirt a few inches so there is room to insert the sash center.
Measure the width of the shirt at the bottom. This is how wide your sash center needs to be. For the length of the sash center, use the cutting chart in the pattern.
Fold the sash center in half lengthwise and iron. On the right side of the shirt, line up the sash center with the bottom of the shirt. Topstitch along the top edge of the sash center, attaching it to the shirt. Turn the shirt wrong side out again. Open up just the bottom so you can pin the sash ties in place. Then fold the shirt sides down in place and sew them shut.
Now you are ready to continue on with the steps as written in the pattern!
If the tutorial above was not clear or if you want to watch just for fun, here is Morgan with the same steps in our video tutorial:
There, wasn't that simple? Now you can see why we love Cosette's dress and this shortcut so much! Go ahead and try it out on your own now. We bet you can't make just one!
Let's Create! ~ Kristen
