We get a lot of questions in our patterns group about how to "mash" patterns together. While we've had several blog posts in the past to show some of the mashups we have made, today we're going to teach you how to do your own!
First of all, a mashup simply means that you take your favorite parts of two (or more) patterns and put them together to make one outfit. It may be the bodice from one pattern mashed with the skirt from another. Or the sleeves from one pattern on the bodice of another. You can even mash the top of a dress with the bottom of a romper! There really aren't any limits to your creativity as you put different parts together, using our patterns as your guide. Here are just a few of our favorite staff mashups we have made recently:
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| Francesca and Primrose |
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| Viola and Lorelei |
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| Elora & Betty Front |
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| Elora & Betty Back |
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| Poppy and Francesca |
They're pretty fun, huh! Now let's talk about how to make your own mashup.
First, you need to decide which patterns you want to use. Just look at your favorite features on the different patterns and get an idea of how you want to put them together. We will give you some suggestions later on in the post, but I think your favorite mashups will be the ones you come up with on your own!
Second, determine whether you need to alter parts of the patterns you are working with, as you put them together. For example, if you are taking the bodice of one dress and matching it with the skirt of another dress, you will want to take into account how long each of the bodices are. If you used Hadley's bodice with the Poppy's skirt without adjusting, you would end up with a very short dress! You can mash those two patterns together, but you will need to make either the bodice or the skirt longer. So in this step you will compare the components of both patterns and make any changes necessary. If you are working with cutting charts, simply write in the new measurements. Or, if you are working with pattern pieces, I suggest drawing right on the pieces and adding/cutting the paper before you ever touch the fabric!
Here is a mashup I made using Elora's and Elise's, for the new movie's Cinderella's wedding gown. I cut out the bodice pieces for both patterns and then taped them together, one on top of the other. I used the top of the Elise's bodice and the bottom of the Elora's bodice, putting the bottom V right at the length I needed it for her size, using both as a guide. Then I was able to use the Elora's skirt as written, because it was already the length I wanted.
Then, once you have a plan, go ahead and sew it together! We are both so happy with how this gown turned out!
A mashup isn't necessarily always sewn together either. In the photo above, Dawn took that same bodice from Elise's and simply hemmed it as a top. The tutu skirt is completely separate, of her own creation. Stunning! You could make the bodice of most dresses into a top, to wear with a tutu, skirt, shorts, jeans - you name it!
You can also take just the skirt of a dress and make it into... well, a skirt. We did an entire blog post on how to make a skirt from a dress pattern, including all the measurements you'll need for the waistband! The photo above is the skirt from Piper's worn separately with the under-dress from Jaclyn's. It's a great way to use your dress patterns in a new way!
So now that you know the basics of how to mash patterns, and you've seen a few examples, I'm guessing you want to know which patterns might mash together most easily. Am I right? Well, this is where I hook you up with a lot of our past blog posts where we show exactly which patterns we used and how! First, let's start with the ahhhh-dorable video that Shannon and Tiffany put together a year and a half ago. It's still one of my all time favorites, and they describe exactly how they mashed certain patterns to create the above outfits.
And now, we have a whole series of CKC mashups that Deborah Koch made for us last year on the blog. She is so creative and I love all the different looks she made! Each of the following links will take you to a blog post where we take an in-depth look at the patterns she mashed, any modifications she made, as well as little embellishments that she added here and there. If you read through all these posts (and check out the gorgeous photos included!) you will get a really good idea of which patterns mash well together and how to do it on your own!
How was that for a run-down of how to mash patterns? I think you're ready to jump in and make your first mashup! If you have any follow-up questions, feel free to ask in our patterns group. We're always happy to help!
Let's Create! ~ Kristen
