Sew… I’m on a hunt to find a flattering dungaree dress. Don’t get me wrong I am completely in love with my Cleo and wear it at least once a week but I would just like to find one thats more flattering for my large bust. As soon as I saw the Simple Sew Nicole dress I had visions of this being turned into a dungaree dress. I didn’t want to go straight into a full on hacked version but instead wanted to get the FBA adjustment right.

To give it a more dungaree like feel I used this dark indigo stretch denim from Sew Me Sunshine. The first adjustment I made to the pattern was to shorten it by 5 inches. That sounds like quite a lot but I’m only 5’3″ and I would only wear the dress with tights or legging in the colder months. I took this length straight off the bottom hem as the dress straightens out so it didn’t effect the shape.

Now for the FBA. I have to do quite a large adjustment and find that if I leave it as one large dart it doesn’t sit flat and I end up with weird pointy boobs. Last year when making my first Orla I did some research into the FBA issues I was having and discovered dart clusters. This was a life changing experience. I turn the one large dart into three small darts which gives a great fit. After taking these photos I can see they need a really good steam! It just shows that you must iron your makes!

When it comes to the neck line the shape varies from the line drawing to the sketch on the pattern sleeve. I redrew the neckline so that it was squarer and lower making it more similar to the sketch. With layering up dungarees I didn’t want the neckline to be too high.

The last small adjustment I made was to the pockets. I kept them the same size but shaped the bottom into a point like standard jean shaped pocket.

Now for some sewing. The dress came together very quickly and the construction is really simple. The pattern is aimed at beginners and it really is beginner friendly. For the facing I used some left over anchor print cotton which is also from Sew Me Sunshine, it’s currently sold out but Harriet has so many amazing cottons you could use. Who else loves using up left over fabric for facings?

One final touch I added was lots of top stitching. I used a brown cotton and went around the pockets, neckline, arm holes and around the hem.

I’m really pleased with how my version of the Nicole dress has turned out. My aim is to add a further hack to the shoulders making them into straps with a button or clasp fastening. To do this I would narrow the shoulders, lengthen the back shoulder pieces and shorten the front section but making sure that they overlapped.

What dungaree dress patterns would you recommend?