Hack: The Little Black Dress for summer with the Sundress Pattern

Every month, I invite you to discover an original composition created with customizable patterns. It's a great opportunity to get inspired, learn how to combine tops, bottoms, and sleeves, and, above all, find the ideal sewing project from among more than 25,000 possible combinations!

For June, I sewed a little black cotton dress, perfect for summer. This creation combines the elegant and lightweight Bain de Soleil top with the fluid and feminine 1/4 Circle Skirt . These patterns are designed for a fitted waist, but I decided to add a personal touch with an easy sewing hack: an ultra-comfortable elastic waist!

👉 In this article, I'll walk you through this hack step by step, so you can tailor your dress to your style and comfort.

And before you get started, don't forget the little promotion :-) The Sunbathing Top and the Quarter Circle Skirt are 20% off for the whole month of June*. This promotion is automatically applied in the cart, for the PDF and Paper + PDF versions.

choice of size

In this tutorial, no pattern modifications are necessary. The trick is simply to choose a size larger than the recommended skirt size, based on your measurements.

For my project, I started by selecting the size of the Bain de Soleil top by referring to my chest measurement: a size 36, small chest.

Next, I offer you an equivalence table indicating, for each top size, the recommended size for the bottom . This method is valid for all customizable bottoms . Favor bottoms that are not adjusted to the hips for a final creation adapted to your silhouette.

In the example shown here, I cut the 1/4 Circle Skirt in size 48 for my 36 small chest.

Small Chest Sizes

Plus Size Busts

If you wear a size larger than 48 (small bust) or 44 (large bust), I recommend you opt for the Gathered Skirt pattern, which is perfectly suited to this type of customization.

All you need to do is measure the width of the waist of the Bain de Soleil pattern, then select the corresponding size in the Gathered Skirt pattern.

adaptation of finishes

In this version of the dress, you can remove the invisible zip on the back, which makes assembly much easier.

So I sewed the center back, leaving a slit of about 10 cm at the neckline, to make it easy to put the dress on.

elastic slide

The top and bottom are joined with a simple overlock seam, with the seam allowances facing down.
It is no longer necessary to gather the Bain de Soleil top at the waist, which further simplifies assembly.

A slight offset of a few millimeters may appear at this stage, due to the mixing of sizes between the top and bottom. Don't worry: this is easily corrected during assembly.

For the waist casing, I then cut a 3.5 cm strip of fabric. Its length corresponds to the waist measurement of the dress, which you can measure directly on your work.
I assembled the short sides right sides together, opened the margins with an iron, then marked a 1 cm fold towards the wrong side along the entire length of the strip to make it easier to install.

Once the dress is turned inside out, I place the band (slider) around the waist, aligning it with the seam allowance of the top/bottom assembly. The fold is facing upwards.
I pin carefully, then stitch from the right side of the dress, following the groove of the waist seam, for a discreet finish.

Then I fold the casing down and stitch along the fold, leaving a small opening to insert the elastic.

All that's left is to slip in a 1 cm high elastic band, cut to the length of your waist, then close the opening by machine or by hand.

And there you have it: a simple and effective technique that allows you to obtain a comfortable and feminine dress from the Bain de Soleil top pattern.

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The dress was made from Atelier Brunette's Deep Charcoal cotton poplin. Thanks to the brand for generously donating the fabric.