Basic Blocks Make Many Frocks

A good dress block can be used as the basis for almost every dress, blouse, skirt, jacket or even coat that you can imagine. And if your block fits you well, so will the garments that you design from it.

Even if you prefer relatively simple styles, as I do, this tool can be your trusty companion in producing some completely different looks.

To illustrate, here are two dresses that I made recently, both based on the same basic pattern:

Dress 1: A blue and white dress in a Majolica print cotton. The style of the design is very close to that of my dress block, but the interest in this dress comes from the fabric pattern placement and from some purchased trim which was added at the waistline and above the ruffle.

Blue and white Majolica print cotton dress

Dress 2: An ever so slightly more complex design with princess seams, front and back yokes, and some handmade trim at the horizontal seamlines. I used a very beautiful tweed type fabric with several different yarn types woven into it, including a multi-coloured yarn and a metallic thread. I have more info on this dress in this post.

Pink tweed dress (the trim at the back yoke was later removed)

I'm sure you'll agree that these dresses are so completely different from one another, that it's hard to believe that they were based on the same basic pattern.

Here are the simple steps used to create the individual patterns:

Dress 1

Using my sleeveless dress block:

• Brought the shoulder point in a little (around half an inch [13mm]) to expose more shoulder.

• Cut off sections from the bottom of the skirt front and back, and converted these to a ruffle. The ruffle circumference is around 2.5 times the circumference of the original skirt circumference.

Dress 2

Using my sleeveless dress block:

• Brought the shoulder point in a little (around half an inch [13mm]) to expose more shoulder.

• Widened and lowered the neckline a little, so that a blouse could be worn underneath if desired.

• Created front and back yokes.

• Transferred the bust dart and removed the bodice waist dart volume (front and back) to create princess seams.

• Removed the skirt waist dart volume (front and back) to create princess seams.

Can you believe how simple this was?

There are so many truly beautiful patterns available for purchase, and of course, like most sewists, I have bought and made up my fair share. These do eliminate a lot of design work, which is definitely a plus! But, when I'm in a hurry and I'm able to let my fabric do the talking, I often find that I will rustle up a little pattern using my basic blocks.

How about you? Do you use pattern blocks? If so, what percentage of your garments are made using your block pattern(s), and how many do you make from patterns that you have bought? I'd love to know.

Until next time,

Caroline