hacking guide: wrap dress
It feels so good to sew something new after a longer-than-expected hiatus. Between moving house, working on the book (so much work! exciting, but oof!), and general summer shenanigans, I hadn’t felt I had the energy or the ideas necessary to make myself something new to wear. I’ve been spending most of my sewing time on patchwork lately (for a new project, coming soon!) — but the vision for a dress popped into my head one day and I spent the whole afternoon furiously sewing to make it happen. I’m so happy with how it turned out!
Meet the all well box top wrap dress! This was the kind of hack I couldn’t believe I’d never attempted before! Once I mentally rehearsed it before cutting into my fabric, I could figure out right away how to make it work, which always feels nice. Not too much doubling back or re-trying, which is sometimes the way to make a hack work. This one was straightforward. It’s a deceptively simple hack — once you take a look at the tutorial, you’ll see. If you’ve sewn the Ruffle Dress version of the All Well Box Top, sewing the Wrap Dress will be an absolute breeze!
I made this dress because I wanted something summer-y and breastfeeding-friendly. This spring, we moved to a house on an acre in the suburb where I grew up, and we’ve been spending so much time outside under trees and in the sun. I’m always chasing my toddler around, and I need clothes that are comfortable, that suit me, and that can do the stuff I need to do (like nurse anywhere anytime). This dress checks all my summer-clothes boxes, and I feel beautiful in it! All you can hope for really. If you already own the box top pattern and you have some fabric in your stash, you can sew this up asap for FREE! A good feeling.
As usual, this isn’t an all-inclusive guide. Hacks are merely guidelines, not full sewing instructions like you find in the main parts of sewing patterns. Hacks also are not as thoroughly tech-edited or tested as main sewing patterns. Sewing the wrap dress might take a little bit of problem-solving, trial and error, etc, I can’t give you exact fabric amounts needed (so just make sure you have extra handy), and keep in mind that I have not tested this hack in any size other than my own. Let me know if you have any feedback or notes that could help guide future sewists if you run into any big hiccups when you sew the hack! If you want to share the garment you made using this hack, you can use the hashtag #allwellboxtopwrapdress. Hooray for breezy summer dresses! Hooray for sewing after a long while not-sewing! Happy hacking!
