The Ellie Whittaker Celine Top Hack

Another demonstration on how versatile the Celine Top pattern from Ellie Whittaker can be. Today's post is going to show you how I hacked mine into a beautiful reversible dress.

Needless to say, with what's been going on in the world I've been doing quite a bit of sewing at night. Luckily I have a hobby that suits social distancing! So one night I was staring at my fabrics and waiting for inspo to strike me and it did! I had originally bought this floral print with a rich green background from Hobby Lobby to replicate a dress I saw last season released by WHIT (below). It was going to be epic but I made so many dresses last year that I set it to the side to pick up again this Summer. However, when I saw it sitting there with my #thecelinetop pattern next to it I thought, "I'm going to make a dress out of this pattern!"

So first thing I did was write down all the hacks I'd be doing. At times I get so excited that I just go straight into it and then I have to stop as I go because I store up all the "inspo" in my head and it can get very confusing when you're hacking a pattern. You'll find my list of hacks below in my horrid handwriting (I'm an extremely neat writer...unless I'm sewing...to which it becomes doctor's handwriting aka illegible). Now please note, these hacks are tailored to me and how #thecelinetop fits on me. But I'm going to do something a little different and go through each one and show you how I got to my adjustments. Also, bear in mind, I'm not a professional in sewing whatsoever so please don't take this as gold.

To start, any pieces that needed an adjustment I traced the original pattern piece using my Pellon 830 (my preferred cloth-like paper to trace patterns but you can use any paper you prefer) and a pencil.

The Front and Back Bodice:

I pinned the original two pieces together as though I was sewing it up, not forgetting the seam allowance, and checked the fit on my torso. I made a small mark at where I wanted it to hit me if it was a dress. By hit, I'm talking about where the top of the skirt of the dress and the bottom of the bodice would meet. Now in this instance, these pieces include the seam allowance so I don't need to add that in at the shoulder or side seams, but where I marked the line is where the seam would be, so don't cut there. Add the seam allowance (1cm or 3/8") and that will be your new cutting line. In my case I shortened the back and front bodice by 5".

One other change I made to the back bodice is I added height to where the buttons go. I always wear an undershirt and that peaks through a little bit on my original #thecelinetop so this time around, since it's a dress I didn't want anything peaking through. So on the original pattern where the buttons go I extended that side up 4" and then I used my french rule to join that new point to the existing shoulder point. This was the most complex adjustment I made and not needed if you don't wear undershirts.

The Sleeves:

I still put elastic into the sleeves but wanted more length to create a ruffle look at the end. So I added 2" to my sleeve pattern.

The Skirt Front and Back:

Next, I'm going to introduce the only two additional pattern pieces, and they're just rectangles; one of the first sewing tricks I learnt a long time ago and have used a countless amount of times. But, let's talk length first. This is simply how long you want your dress from the bodice. For mine, I held up my adjusted front bodice piece and then got my husband to hold my measuring tape from the line I marked earlier to where I wanted the dress to fall. If you don't have a trusty male assistant or someone to help out, simply use an existing dress with a similar length. Once you have that measurement, add the seam allowance in for the top. For example for me, I wanted a 26" length so I made it 27" (to be safe) because I added the 1cm top seam allowance in (and then some) cos I'm paranoid and I'd rather have it a little longer than a little too short when it comes time to finish the hem.

Okay, now that the length is taken care of, you will use this same length for both the front and back additional rectangle pattern pieces. Moving to the width; this part is really depends on the look you want to achieve. Getting the base measurement is simple, take your measuring tape and measure the hem of the front bodice and then the back bodice. Now depending on how full you want your skirt, that's how much you multiple your base number by. For slight fullness multiply by 1.5, for middle ground fullness multiply by 2. Obviously you can adjust this depending on the look you want. For mine, I did 2 cos i've done that many times and that's the look I like. So, my front rectangle pattern piece ended up being 24"and my back skirt width was 26". You can see this on the first picture of all my adjustments.

Once I had my front skirt rectangle (24"x 27") and my back skirt rectangle (26"x27") it was time to cut it all out. Since the back skirt rectangle will be sewn to the back bodice you'll need to carry the buttons all the way down, so two of these pieces will need to be cut. For the front skirt rectangle you'll need to go across the whole front, so this piece will need to be cut on the fold.

The Back Facing:

The back facing changed in two ways for me: the length (because I was making a dress instead of a top) and the shape at the top (because I added height to the neckline with my 4" adjustment to the back bodice). But, unless you're adding height also, you'll only need to be concerned with adding length. To account for the new shape, I used my new back bodice piece and traced the outline. I then placed the existing facing underneath and traced the area that stayed the same. Thus producing my new facing shape. I then took my skirt length (27") and added that onto the bottom of the facing. I used my ruler to keep all my edges straight and keep the thickness of the facing the same from top to bottom, and BOOM new back facing. Since no adjustments were made to the front bodice the front facing stays the same.

Okay, now that the hacks have been explained it's on to the sew-up. Now I followed Ellie's detailed instructions for it all, except for finishing the sleeves and obviously hemming the top (because, in case I haven't made it clear...we're making a dress!) So with the sleeves, I actually remembered to take a video! So refer to below to see how I finished the hem there.

Moving on, the next part was getting the skirt pieces together and then attaching it all to the bodice. I sewed one back skirt piece to one side of the front skirt piece and then I sewed the other back skirt piece to the other side so I'd be left with one whole skirt piece. I then basted two stitches, in the longest stitch setting, running across the top of the skirt. Then I pulled the threads to gather the skirt and pinned it to the bodice, just making sure that the seams matched up with the seams in the bodice. I sewed that in place and finished the raw edges.

Next I followed Ellie's instructions on adding the facing, but the only difference was now the facing was way longer. But the rest is exactly the same as per Ellie's instructions. Once that was done I hemmed the skirt, just like you would the top, and then it was off to do buttons and buttonholes (picked up the perfect buttons from Joann too). Again, exactly the same as Ellie explains in the instructions for #thecelinetop.

And, if you're still with me after all that then congrats, give yourself a pat on the back. And, if that didn't sound like I was speaking a completely foreign language then I'm giving myself a pat on the back! Haha. I now have a gorgeous, ready for Spring, Celine dress. And she is mighty fine. My husband has even been walking passed it telling me how much he loves it. It's amazing and the best part is I can make so many more because I took the time to make the pattern piece adjustments. You can do the same, well hopefully, who knows if these instructions make complete sense. As mentioned, I'm definitely not a professional at this. But, I can say that this has been my favourite sew-up since I made my original #thecelinetop and right now we've all got to keep busy at home so what better time than now to start on your hacked Celine top. I promise you won't be disappointed! Oh, and if you have any questions don't hesitate to reach out! Until next time! Happy Spring everyone! (Yes...I see the snow, and Yes, it is still technically Spring).