Hello everyone!
I’m so excited to be back on the Lamazi Fabrics blog today to share what I’ve been working on lately. The month of April was very special to me, as I celebrated the first birthday of my first sewing pattern, the Samantha dress. I decided to create a series of hacks in order to show you how versatile it is and how different it can look by changing a few things on the design.
To create these hacks, I used some gorgeous jersey fabrics from Lamazi Fabrics. I am always so impressed by the quality of the jersey fabrics that they stock and I knew that they would be perfect for my Samantha experiments.
The first hack was a highly requested modification. I showed you how to change the original full skirt of the pattern into a gathered skirt. I know that many ladies don’t like full skirts, as they sometimes tend to highlight the hip area and make it look wider. The gathered skirt is a great alternative and this modification is one of the easiest you can do. The fabric I chose for it was this beautiful Kaleidoscope print cotton jersey, that had the perfect weight for this dress.
Find the gathered skirt tutorial here: https://athinakakou.com/2019/04/14/samantha-hacks-add-a-gathered-skirt/
The second hack is a bit more… glamorous, but weirdly enough, I’ve worn it more that all the others in this series. The minute I saw this cotton jersey, I knew I wanted to create a maxi dress with it. It’s such a fun, bold print that it deserved to be shown. To create this maxi dress, all you need to do is use the shorten/lengthen lines on your pattern and adjust accordingly. I promise you, you’ll feel like a princess in it!
Find the maxi dress tutorial here: https://athinakakou.com/2019/04/17/samantha-hacks-making-a-maxi-dress/
Next up, we have a top hack. Probably the most impressive modification in the series is the one where I showed you how to turn the Samantha dress into a faux wrap top. This jersey garment couldn’t be more wearable and it will be a staple in your wardrobe. I wanted something with a little bit more drape for this hack, so I used Blooms of Mustard viscose jersey with a beautiful print. It matches my jeans perfectly and it’s so soft that it feels like wearing pajamas.
Find the faux wrap top tutorial here: https://athinakakou.com/2019/05/02/samantha-hacks-making-a-faux-wrap-top/
Last but not least, we have the pencil skirt hack. Very kindly modeled by my lovely mom, it features a maxi pencil skirt with a side slit that is slightly gathered at the waist. This modification gives you a lot of room to play around with the length of the skirt, as you can make it mini, midi or maxi. You can also opt for a slit in one side or both and this can go as high up as you prefer. For this dress, I used another cotton jersey from Lamazi Fabrics. The beautiful colors on this fabric make it so easy to pair with shoes and cardigans and I can see it being turned into so many different things, like a statement jumpsuit.
Find the pencil skirt tutorial here: https://athinakakou.com/2019/05/30/samantha-hacks-adding-a-pencil-skirt/
And these were all my Samantha Dress Hacks. You can hear me talking in more detail about them in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSnkHzSbJag
and if you love the pattern as much as I do, you can get it from my shop: https://athinakakou.com/product/samantha-dress-pdf-sewing-pattern/
I hope you enjoyed seeing all the modifications. Don’t forget to have a look at the fantastic range of jerseys that Lamazi Fabrics stock, as I’m sure you’ll find the perfect fabric for your next project.
Happy sewing,
Athina