sewing: alder bess dress tutorial

This post is written by Teresa of Dandelion Drift.

One of my favorite things about sewing is the fact that you can change things up a bit. I see a sewing pattern as a blank canvas, ready to be transformed to my heart’s desire.

I pinned a dress a few weeks ago that had the shape and lines of these two patterns combined. A light bulb went off in my head – Rachael’s Alder Skirt and Bess Top were begging me to combine them – and the Alder Bess Mash Up was rolling.

It really turned out easy to do. Want to know how to make your own Alder Bess Dress?

Step one

If you’ve never sewn the Bess top before you’ll need to start by making a muslin (which is what I did). You’ll need to figure out where you want to end the top pattern and sew on the skirt pattern. After making my muslin, I found out that I wanted to chop off the bottom six inches of the Bess top, which is about 1 inch below my belly button. That’s the front measurement. The back measurement was 8 inches up from the bottom. Just cut a straight line at these marks.

Step two

Now you’re ready to cut your pattern out of your good fabric. I used this double gauze. It is perfectly light and airy for summer. Cut your shortened Bess top and the Alder skirt (view B). You don’t need to cut out the waistband for the skirt pattern.

Step three

Now it’s time to sew. Start by sewing your Bess top according to the pattern directions. Stop when you get to the step where you are ready to sew the sides of the shirt.

Step four

Skip to the Alder skirt pattern now, and sew according to the pattern directions. Stop when it is time to sew the sides of the front skirt pieces to the back skirt piece.

I made one tiny alteration to the Alder skirt while sewing, which you might want to do also. Our goal is to get the skirt and top patterns to match. This might work out perfectly for you, but the top of your skirt might be a bit narrower/wider than the bottom of your top. I needed to make my back darts on the skirt a little smaller to help my pieces match up better. You can just move one of your dart stitch lines a little to the left or right to help suit your needs.

Step five

Once your skirt is sewn and your top is sewn (except the side seams) you’re ready to combine the two. My Bess top ended up being 1/2 inch wider on either side when compared to my skirt. I just tapered this seam down, so that the seams all matched up. You are now ready to sew your top to your skirt. With right sides together, stitch your skirt front to your shirt front. Do the same with the back pieces.

Step six

Now you’re ready to sew the side seams. With right sides together, pin your front Bess Alder piece to your back Bess Alder piece. Make sure your waist seam matches nicely. And sew with 1/2 inch seam allowance. Now finish off the armhole and skirt hem according to the pattern directions!

Whew! Now you have a great Alder Bess Dress, which has awesome lines and is incredibly comfortable and very wearable.

If you have any questions, let me know. I’d love to help, because this has definitely become my new favorite summer dress!

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