Seamwork Reggie Hack

When I received this fabric, I knew two things immediately.  One – that I wanted something romantic and pretty.  Two – that I wanted to use as much of the fabric as possible.  This Minerva exclusive Wildflower Fusion viscose challis is sooo beautiful that I want to just jump inside the print and live there!  Ultimately, I decided to stay in this reality and hack the member bonus for Seamwork’s Reggie.  It turned out great and I didn’t have much scrap fabric left.

Reggie is an adorable wrap dress for woven fabrics.  I’ve made so many Reggies over the years and I never tire of them.  For this make, I used the faux wrap member bonus for the bodice and sleeves.  I lengthened the short sleeves to make them long and billowing. Since this challis isn’t as stiff as the African wax print I normally use with Reggie, I increased the amount of fabric that crosses over in the front of the bodice.  I didn’t want too much cleavage to be exposed and I wanted to be able to wear this dress without wearing a tank top or a camisole under it.  Then I made a long skirt, with pockets of course, and attached that to the bodice.  After making a channel for the elastic waistband, the only thing left was to hem the bottom.  I love the way it turned out!  It’s perfect for spinning around in a park or twirling at a garden party.

As I mentioned before, I’m obsessed with this fabric’s print!  First, it’s mainly purple, which is my favorite color.  Second, the print reminds me of a beautiful stream at sunrise; when the butterflies are floating in the air, the flowers are opening up to receive the sun’s rays, and everything has a purple cast.  Love it!  Like all of Minerva’s fabrics, this was a dream to work with.  I experienced no fraying, snagging, or color fading after laundering.  It’s opaque so you don’t need any lining, which is great for a light to medium weight fabric.  The viscose base, which is derived from wood pulp, is softer and more breathable than cotton.  As the temperatures rise, this is exactly the type of fabric you’ll want to keep you cool.

Overall, this was a wonderful project to make.  I have so many patterns in my library, but it’s always so much fun to hack what you have into something completely new.  What about you?  Do you have any tried and true patterns that you like to hack?  Let me know in the comments below!