Welcome back to my blog, where I am thrilled to share my new sewing project the Hubbading Bowen Dress Sewing Pattern from Peppermint Magazine! I have wanted to try this pattern for a while now, so I am glad to have the chance to make it finally. In this blog post, I share the pattern amendments I made, some top tips I picked up whilst sewing it, and the finished result. I hope you enjoy seeing how the Bowen Dress Sewing Pattern comes together.
What materials & things I used:
Fabric: The fabric is a beautiful cotton sateen from the wonderful designer, Sarah Hearts. She sent it to me over a year ago but as I was pregnant most of 2021 I wanted to hold onto it and wait for the perfect project to use it. It’s a gorgeous drapey fabric and really high quality, not to mention the most fun colours.
My sewing machine: I sew using the Janome DKS100
For anyone wondering (as I get asked a lot) I use the Cricut Minipress and a mini ironing board on my desk whilst sewing, it makes ironing seams so much easier.
- I add iron-on interfacing to the button placket
- Buttons of choice, I chose 5 flower buttons from my Pigeon Wishes collaboration
- Roughly 3 meters of fabric were needed for my version
- Tracing paper/pattern drafting paper if you have it
Lastly, you will need all your usual sewing equipment.
Pattern Amendments:
- The main amendment I made to the Bowen Dress pattern is the reduction of the body. I loved the blog post by the island sewcialist because she managed to alter the very oversized style and create something more streamlined. I created a toile using some of her suggestions and then altered a few more factors to suit my figure.
- As per the pattern information and my measurements, I should have made a size c/d but because of the oversized fit, I cut out the smallest size A.
- As well as cutting out the size A, I reduced the width of body A and body B by inches (as seen in the diagram below).
- I also took a further 1 cm from the center of body A (the piece with the scooped neckline, not the button-up placket side).
- After making a toile I also decided I needed to lengthen the body so that the hem of the top sits on my natural waist (opposed to under the bust).
- I added 4 inches in the middle (center front) of both body A and body B pieces, and then 3 inches at the side seam, creating a curved line from the center front to the side. This is to allow extra space for the curvature of the bust, as in the toile it was rising up too much at the front.
- I didn’t cut pockets for this version
- The sleeve ruffle is 4 inches shorter than the pattern
- For the 2 skirt tiers, I created 2 skirt panels as normal, and then 4 rectangle panels about half the length of the first skirt panels.
Sewing it up:
I followed most of the sewing steps in the instructions but added a few extras I will list below.
- I cut 4 rectangle pieces to create belt ties for the waist, they measure roughly 3 inches wide and as long as you need them to be. I sewed them into the waist by adding a slight pleat to the pieces and attaching them to the waist of the body.
- During construction, I decided to take some length off of the sleeve ruffles because they were far too long and I felt like the dress started to swamp me a little. I took off 4 inches and I much prefer the smaller ruffle.
Other than those changes I did everything else by following the pattern instructions. I share some other top tips in my YouTube video below.
That’s it! I hope you enjoyed seeing it come together. Download the Bowen Dress Pattern for free here.