Hi gang! This mashup happened because I recently sewed up the South Shore Romper for a client and she absolutely loved it. I am personally not a romper kinda girl mostly because I don’t look forward to stripping down in public restrooms should the need arise. I figured since I had purchased the pattern for her and I loved the cross front style of the bodice, so I decided to turn it into a dress! Here is how I made that happen.
The first step was to decide on a dress or skirt bottom to use. I specifically chose the Breezy because I loved the hemline. It is longer in the center front and back and creates a point! It is fun and I love that this hem covers my stomach while still gives me a shape! You can choose so many of the skirt patterns from EAM including the new Monday Morning Dress, Be Dreamy, Beautiful Day, Sunny Day or even the Memphis. You just want to look for a skirt pattern that has a straight top edge to meet the bottom edge of the romper cross front. You could also hack your own skirt. You can choose a larger skirt size and gather it for more fullness or once you have printed the pattern you can compare the measurements and adjust as needed. In my example, I graded a 4x shoulder and bust to a 5x at the waist of the romper. I then used a 4x skirt from the Breezy top because that was the highest available size and I knew it had some gathering to fit the skirt to the bodice in the original dress/top. Lucky for me, the skirt fit my romper bodice with very little effort. I only gathered a tiny bit!
I assembled the bodice per the pattern directions and then assembled the skirt according to the pattern as well. I choose the petite cut line for the skirt length. I love that this skirt comes with multiple length options.
I used this beautiful ITY (Interlock Twist Yarn) fabric that is newly released from Amelia Lane Designs. It is also on new release sale through tonight! This print is perfect for wearing to all summer events! The Red, White, and Blue floral will look amazing for July Fourth picnics in the park! I was a little concerned when my fabric first arrived. I thought it would be too see thru to wear alone, but it is fine! It isn’t sheer when worn! If you have never worked with ITY, it is slinky and slick, but lightweight and cool. It has amazing drape as well! I find it kind of fiddly to work with and I use a load of clips to keep things together, but it was worth it because I love my new dress.
I used my serger for 97% of the construction. I hemmed the skirt using a rolled hem foot on my sewing machine and also hemmed my sleeves on the sewing machine. Did you know I recently made a short video on using the rolled hem foot on your sewing machine? You can view it here.
Overall, I adore my new dress and plan to wear it frequently! I hope you take a shot at hacking this cross front bodice with your favorite Ellie and Mac skirt! You can use my affiliate links pick up the South Shore Romper pattern here and the Breezy here. You can check out this fabric at Amelia Lane Designs. As always you can view all of my Ellie and Mac makes on my blog at www.Sequoialynnsews.wordpress.com. Thanks for stopping by!
