How the hack did you do that?! An from @annie_made_it and her #Tammy

Hi, my name is An Holvoet aka @annie_made_it! I live in Mechelen and started sewing with Peggy (who now runs ‘KanaPe’ together with Katia – a creative studio & fabric Valhalla in Boom) about eight years ago.  

What exactly did you do with the pattern?

My hack for the Tammy dress – from the Fibre Mood Special n°1 – turned it into a blouse with a unique button placket. 

Step-by-step plan of my Tammy hack

1. To make a blouse, don’t lay the sections of the front panel at the fabric fold but cut them out twice mirrored and remove 0.5 cm where the CF was.
2. You make a separate button placket 8 cm wide and the length of your actual blouse. Finished, your button placket will be 3 cm (and the middle of that is the CF).
3. You reinforce the button placket and press it in half length-wise (right side out), then press 1 long side over 1 cm to the inside and sew the other long side to your blouse.
4. When measuring the overall measurement across the bust, I found that the blouse was okay in my case, so I didn’t make any adjustments there.
5. I left out the ribbons at the waist and on the sleeves, which I finished with elastic.
6. I finished the ruffle with a rolled hem.
7. I also omitted the blind zip on the CB but I did retain the back seam. Et voilà!

How did you come up with the idea?

I was totally in love with the violet twill fabric as well as the Tammy pattern, but a violet dress was a bit too far out of my comfort zone. A blouse seemed like a good plan and so the idea for the hack was born.

Do you make a lot of pattern hacks?

For the first few years, I always followed the instructions and illustrations very precisely ;-) but as you develop a bit more skill, the tweaks or hacks are precisely the fun part of making your own clothes. Lengthening/shortening a pattern, creating a different collar, using a different closure, omitting a side seam (as with my recent Luz)… I do it regularly. For example, I once made a hack for the Victoria blouse by turning it into a bomber vest, and I transformed a backpack pattern into a pannier, etc.

What’s the best part of making pattern hacks?

For me, it’s the fact that I don’t actually start with the intention of creating a hack. It starts from an idea or an outfit that’s in your head. Then you look for a pattern that looks somewhat like it and ‘mould’ it into a new concept. Sometimes, it works perfectly and sometimes it doesn’t, but it’s always a learning experience. :) Usually, I can work out these hacks on my own pretty well, and sometimes I’m glad to have a helpline at KanaPe – like I needed with this Tammy – I appreciated being able to double-check it.

Do you have any other sewing projects (pattern hacks or otherwise) in the pipeline?

A whole host of projects! A few examples: the Luz cardigan as a birthday present, the Didi in teddy fabric, and the Ruby dress. Plus, a preview from the next Fibre Mood. And so much more…

Are you excited to try out the Tammy dress hack for yourself? Buy the pattern here!