Sewing Charlotte wrap dress from Fibre Mood

Since I have started to sew, I have been making a new outfit for Christmas and New Years’ Eve each year. This year isn’t different - I have chosen a yellow mousseline fabric with little golden dandelions to shine bright for the well-deserved holiday season.

Material for my wrap dress:

• 3 meters (120 inches) of mousseline fabric from Terry Moda Latky (for a size 36-38)
• Golden thread - surprisingly easy to find and sew. I bought mine at Stoklasa
• Charlotte Dress Short: free pattern from Fibre Mood
• Sewing classics: Matching thread, scissors, sewing machine etc.

Charlotte wrap dress hack

Inspo J.Crew ruffle dress vs Charlotte Dress Hack

Pattern modifications

When I saw the red dress in mousseline fabric, I wanted to make the same! Here are the different things I modified so that you can also hack your own in the same way. The instructions for Charlotte dress are clear and easy to follow, I will only guide you through the changes I made and let you know about things to be careful about.

I started out with the Charlotte Dress Short free pattern and added a few modifications to make it just as I wanted: more ruffles, longer length, a longer tie, shorter sleeves. I haven’t changed much from the original design, but I love it so much more. For my “pear-like” body shape, ruffles on the upper part add volume and balance out my wider hips perfectly.

In the picture, the red lines indicate the changes from the original pattern. Instructions for the ruffles and tie are explained apart.

1. Print the pattern

   Make sure to follow the instructions on Fibre Mood to pick the size you want to print! I didn’t notice it before printing, and I ended up with a million lines, guessing how to cut the pattern right.

   

2. Lengthening the dress

   The short Charlotte version was too short for me (especially for the winter season), so I have slightly modified the skirt pattern to make it longer. I have added 20 cm to each side. I retraced the curve on the front side starting from the middle of the pattern.

   

3. Lining the bodice

   The neckline is finished with facing on the original pattern, but I wanted to add lining. I always prefer to fully line a piece of clothing as it provides a neat inside finish and looks more professional. As the fabric was pretty thin, it also avoids transparency and makes it warmer for winter. For lining, cut 2 back pieces, 4 front pieces for the bodice. Proceed as usual for lining a garment: no overlocking is needed, sew the darts, assemble the shoulder seams, add ruffles, assemble lining on the neckline, and only at the end sew the sides together.

   

4. Longer tie and bigger bow

   I love bows. The bigger, the better. What’s more, I wanted to make the tie longer to wrap it around my waist more times and could tie the dress at different places - on the back or front of the dress. Each tie, left and right, measures approximately 1,3 meters long.

   

   

5. More ruffles

   I wanted to add more ruffles to my dress - to the neckline, the sleeves, and widen the ruffles at the bottom. Each time I wanted to make a ruffle, I simply measured the piece’s length where I wanted to add it and multiplied the number by 1,5. For example, the sleeve measured 28 cm all around, the ruffle I cut measured 42 cm. To make everything fit in the three meters of fabric, I have shortened a few ruffles depending on the fabric I had left.

   

6. Sleeves

   I haven’t made any major changes, just shortened them about 10 cm to add the ruffle.

Thanks to the soft cotton mousseline double gauze, the dress is super comfortable and surprisingly warm thanks to the lining. And of course, to give a final touch to the look, I had to make myself a matching scrunchie from the few small fabric scraps I had left :)

If you are interested in more free sewing patterns from Fibre Mood, check out their online sewing classes, they are very inspiring!

Did you like this pattern hack? Let me know, I would be very happy to hear your feedback and see your own makes! :)