Upcycling with SALS - Day 3 - Juniper Dress with and without Collar

Hello again, it’s Maxine!

Pour voir cet article en français, cliquez ici.

I can’t be the only one that is scared to sew a placket and alllllll those button holes right ? Fear no more, with my hack you’ll have the amazing result but with zero effort. 😉 For this project I pictured the collar would look extra cute so I decided to keep it just like I did for the polo. I used the Juniper with the following options: ungathered, dress length, elastic casing, front button placket, rolled short sleeves. You’ll notice there’s a chest pocket too, but it’s the original pocket of the garment, not the one offered by the pattern.

Schedule

Day 1: Intro + Inspo
Day 2: Polo tutorial
Day 3: Juniper dress with and without collar
Day 4: Avery Apron with Scraps
Day 5: Catch up Day

First step is to cut along the side seam up to the armscye by keeping close to the stitches so you don’t waste good fabric. Then you’ll have to separate the sleeves from the bodice but cutting along the armscye seam. Finally open the sleeves by cutting their side seams and through the cuff. Now is a good time to do some tetris and make sure all your pattern pieces will fit.

Step 2 is very similar to the polo hack I did and that you can see right here. The only difference is that you won’t fold the front bodice in half. Simply place you pattern above one side of the front, aligning the side with the existing placket. Place your front pattern piece so the neckline arrive close to the collar seam and overlap the shoulder seam 1/2in to account for the seam allowance that we won’t use. Cut your pattern piece BUT DO NOT CUT OVER THE SHOULDER LINE. Stop at the top of the armscye. Replace your shirt and do the same with the second half of the front bodice.

We are now ready to cut the back.

Fold it in half in the middle to create your “fold” line. Make sure the collar is evenly folded too. You can put the collar up so it’s not in your way. Also make sure your front pieces (that are still attached at the shoulder seam) are out of your way too. I forgot to take a picture of the pattern placement but it will be similar to the Polo back. Simply put the neckline of the pattern piece close to the collar seam and overlap by 1/2in at the shoulder seam, making sure the armscye front the front and back piece align.

Next step is to cut the rest of the pieces you need.

I think I managed to cut both short sleeves in the same long sleeve. I used the second original long sleeves to cut my sleeves tab and the elastic casing. For this one I had not a long piece enough so I cut 2 strips that I joined together, as it’s in the dress so no one will see. 😉

Finally you are ready to follow the tutorial. You’ll have to skip the parts where it mentions to sew the placket and neck binding.

During the organization of this event, I had the time to sew a second Juniper made of one of my grandma’s shirts. This one will go to my little cousin who is 5 years old. I succeeded in making a size 6 dress length from a size Small shirt. I’d say it’s the maximum I could fit. Probably that a man’s shirt would allow for higher sizes.

I also had just enough leftover to make these Taylor bow ties to my son and my other little cousin.