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What a month it has been! I loved seeing all the Orlas poping up on my Instagram feed. You guys are so awesome. Thank you to every single one of you for participating in this Orla Affair. As promised I am back to show you all the drafting alterations to make a shirt dress Orla. This dress will require a few more involved modifications than other Orla’s , and some actual drafting. But don’t worry, I will walk you through every single step. I have no doubts you will be able to do it! So, let’s jump in. Keep in mind that all the measurements I give you is what worked for me. I fall into size “L” in Orla and I am 5”10’ with broad shoulders. I definitely recommend making a quick muslin before you cut into your prized fabric. Tools needed Paper – you can use freezer paper, medical paper or any other paper you use for tracing patterns Pencil Eraser Ruler French Curve (I definitely recommend using a French Curve on this one) You will also need your front and back bodice pattern pieces. Seam Allowances Make sure to mark your seam allowances on both front and back bodice pieces. We will be making all modifications from the actual seam lines. Seam allowances on Orla Dress are 3/8" or 1 cm. We will add those back in once the hack is all done. Raising the Neckline We will start off with raising the neckline on the pattern to accommodate for shirt collar. On the front bodice extend the center fold line and raise the neckline by 2”. Next, extend the shoulder inward by 1 1/2”. Using a French curve draw a new neckline For the back bodice, you will need to move the shoulder in by the same amount , 1 1/2”, and raise the neckline by 3/4” at center back. Again use the French curve to draw the neckline. Yoke Now, lets draft the yoke. This is an optional step, you do not have to have an actual yoke on your dress. On the front bodice mark points 1 and 2. Point 1 is on the armscye and it is 2” away from the shoulder seam. Point 2 is 1 1/2” on the front neckline down from the shoulder. Using a ruler connect point 1 and 2 with a straight line. This will be the front part of the yoke. Let’s draft the back yoke. On the back bodice, mark a point on the center back seam, 3 1/2” away from the new neckline. Using a ruler draw a line through this mark, perpendicular to the center back line. This is the back bart of the yoke. Next we will combine the two yokes into one. For this you will need a piece of paper you can see through. We will start with the back part. Lay the paper on top of the back bodice pattern, trace the yoke pattern onto it. Using the same piece of paper, lay it of top of the front bodice making sure the shoulder seams are matched, and trace the front yoke piece. Mark the shoulder seam with notches, add seam allowances and cutting guidelines on the yoke patten. Note that you will have to cut two yokes on fold. Front Bodice Let’s go back to front bodice piece and add button stand. Note that in the illustration below I already removed the yoke. For this dress I did an easy button stand that folds under and is then topstitched. I added 3/8” to the center front seam line. Then I added two more lines, one 3/4” and another one 1 1/2” away from the first line I drew. These will become button stand. Then I went ahead and added all the cutting guidelines and graininess to my new pattern pieces. I would have to cut two yoke piece on fold, two front pieces and one back piece on fold. Collar Stand Now onto the last part! Let’s draft an actual collar stand. To do so, you will need to measure the length of your new front and back necklines. I like to use tape measure to do so since it is flexible and is easier to measure the length of curves. Once you measure the neckline and mark the measurements down on paper. Since we will be drafting half of a collar, only half of neckline measurements are needed. By that I mean that you can measure the neckline of the front bodice pattern piece and the back bodice pattern piece, without doubling it. To start off, we will draw two perpendicular lines, with a point 1 where they intersect, as below: Next, mark point 2, half of the total neckline measurement (length of back bodice neckline plus length of front bodice neckline ) away from point 1. Square the line upward Mark point 3 3 1/2” up from 1. Square the line off to line 2 Mark point 4, which is 3/4 of the distance between points 1 and 2. Draw a line up to line 3 Mark point 5 on line 2 1/4” away from point 2. Using French curve connect points 4 and 5 Mark point 6 1 1/4" away up from point 1. Draw a line through point 6 all the way to line 2 Mark point 7 on line 6, 5/8" away from the right side Mark point 8 on line 2, 1/8" away from line 3 Mark point 9 1/4" directly to the right of point 8 Connect points 3 and 9, 9 and 7 with a straight lines. Now you can see your collar starting to take shape! Mark point 11 3/8" away from point 5 Using a French curve connect points 7 and 10 Mark point 11 on vertical line 1, 3/8" away from point 6 Using a French curve connect point 11 with the intersection of lines 4 and 6 And finally, we will mark a shoulder notch on the collar stand. To do so, mark point 12 on horizontal line 1, the same distance away as the length of neckline on your back bodice + the length of the back yoke (length from center back line to the shoulder notch) Now you will need to trace out your collar and collar stand pieces. Add seam allowances and pattern cutting guidelines, as well as label the pattern pieces. Note that you will need to cut each piece twice on fold, and once on fold out of interfacing. Thats it! You are done. Next up we will sew this dress! I will be back with a sewing tutorial shortly, likely later today. As usual let me know if you have any questions! I tried my best to put this tutorial together in a clear way, but since it has been a bit busy here I may have missed clarifying something that I should have. Until then, Anya

I apologize for posting this later than I intended. This month has been insanely busy with work and trips, and for my final trip with my family this past week and weekend I was out of reception zone, which I did not anticipate at all. I hope everyone is enjoying Orla Dresses popping up everywhere on social media. I certainly am! You guys have been so inspiring with your makes and hacks. I will be blatantly copying some of your ideas in the future. I am back today to show you my final hack of the Orla Dress. I want to say I saved the best for last, but I can not chose my favourite out of the four hacks I have now done. I love them all. However my last hack is more involved and having extra time to complete it was definitely helpful. As you can see, my last Orla is a proper shirt dress, with button up front, yoke and a shirt collar. I started off with raising the neckline on both front and back bodice pieces. Then I added yoke and I finished off with drafting a collar complete with a collar stand. This hack is a little bit more involved and requires some actual drafting, but it is absolutely doable. This beautiful fabric is courtesy of Harts fabrics, one of the sponsors for An Orla Affair. It is quality lightweight shirting fabric. It has gorgeous texture and I just love it! It is also very soft and feels absolutely fabulous next to my skin. I could make so many more items out of it! I didn't have enough fabric to make the skirt in its full length, so I ended up adding a band to the bottom of the skirt. It wasn't intentional at all, but I do like how it completes the look of the dress. All in all I consider this hack a success. I love how the dress looks very easy, yet put together. I can see a few more of these in my future! Of course, I will post a detailed tutorial for both drafting and sewing this dress. Hang on tight, the drafting tutorial is coming right away and the sewing will be up shortly. Until then, Anya

There are so many ways to finish necklines and armholes. You can really pick and choose the best way that compliments fabric you are working with or the final look of the garment you are going for. I have a tutorial on how to finish neckline with a facing for a clean finish here. You can also do a clean finish with a lining, or you can go with original finish of bias tape. Nothing wrong with any of these methods! I use them all. I chose my neckline finish method based on the fabric I am working with and final look of the garment I am going for, even if it is not what pattern instructions call for. I love exposed bias binding on a neckline. I think it makes a garment interesting texturally and visually. In this post I will walk you through the steps of how I sewed this exposed bias binding on my latest Orla dress. The idea is that you pretty much finish the binding on the outside, rather than the inside. It is not very difficult, but can mess with your mind a bit if you've only been sewing bias binding on the inside. Visible Bias Binding Tutorial I will not be walking through a full dress sewing tutorial, as it is rather simple and very similar to sewing the bodice of Orla. The only pointers would be to press the front darts down and the back darts towards center back. You can attach your sleeves either before finishing the dress or as one of the last steps. It really doesn't matter. The only things you have to have done by the time you finish the neckline is to sew the shoulder seams and press them open, and sew the zipper into the center back seam. So let's start off with the binding finish. First, I pressed little bit more than a third of the width of the binding to the inside. Gray is the right side of the fabric on the diagram below. I love pressing the creases into the hems and folds before sewing, it makes things so much easier later on! Pin the binding to the neckline, ensuring right side of the binding is facing the wrong side of the garment. Sew and trim your seam allowance to 1/4". press the binding away from the rest of the dress. We will not be under stitching the binding here, as it will be visible from the right side. Although there is a way to understitch the binding if you really need to. You would have to press the folded binding away from the bodice, and seam allowances onto the bodice. You can then stitch seam allowance onto the bodice, close to the neckline seam ensuring you do not catch the binding. Roll the binding, together with the seam allowance to the right side and pin to the bodice, enclosing the seam allowances in between the binding and bodice. Fold the ends of the binding under so that they are sandwiched in between the binding and the bodice. Sew close to the edge of the binding. Note that I did not wrap the extra binding around seam allowance. The seam allowance also got rolled onto the right side, so that the seam is just on the inside of the neckline. Give it all a nice press and go on with the rest of the dress. That's it! It is not hard, but I do find the very first step when I pin the right side of the binding to the wrong side of the bodice messes with me every time I do it. Let me know if you think a fully illustrated tutorial on how to make a shift dress would be useful. If so I will find time to have it done. Also, let me know if you have any questions or any suggestions! So many of you are very knowledgeable and I love learning things I didn't know and new ways to sew. Love, Anya

How many Orlas are too many? I don't know the answer to that question because my Orlas are multiplying and I still haven't had enough. Today I am showing you my Shift Orla! Whaaaaat? I know... This Orla seems to have very little in common with the original Orla pattern, but as I've said before, I think Orla is a great starting pattern for all kinds of hacks. I love shift dresses. If I could get away with wearing one every day I totally would. Shift dresses would be my first choice for a "uniform" if I ever had to chose one. They are just so easy to wear yet can be styled into all kinds of looks. The idea to hack Orla into a shift dress came to me very unexpectedly. I didn't plan on it, I was on a look out for a good shift dress pattern for a while and when An Orla Affair started, I half-wondered if it would be possible to hack Orla into a shift dress. Orla fit me really well and required minimum fitting. It has a great bodice and the sleeve fits so well. So, after playing around with that thought I decided why not give it a shot? As I thought a little more about it, I realized it wouldn't be as hard as I originally thought it would be. The changes I ended up making are actually are not too bad and seem doable. I kept the upper part of the bodice completely intact. I rotated the bust dart into the side seam and extended the back darts. And finally I lengthened the bodice to dress length. It sounds complicated, but I promise you it is manageable. If you want to try this hack, I recommend you make at least one Orla and make sure you have made any necessary adjustments to the pattern to have your bodice fitting the way you want it to. You will need a few more measurements to complete this hack though but as usual I will walk you through it with detailed drawings in the hacking post. You can do it! I did muslin my first dress after I hacked the pattern. I wanted to make sure everything fit well. The muslin came out almost perfect and I just ended up taking in the back darts a tiny bit more, but it was not necessary at all. I love how this dress turned out. I love the slightly boxy, yet, hopefully, flattering fit. I love how the darts in the back give it a little bit more definition. I just love everything about it! I definitely see so many more of these in my future. After all, I do love a good shift dress! This particular Orla was made out of cotton I had in stash for a very long time. The fabric has some weight to it without being too heavy and it gives the dress a nice structure. Ha, look at my orange skin! The photo came out slightly dark and I couldn't figure out how to edit it right. But it does show how I finished the neckline. I went with a bias binding this time, but I finished it to the fronts so that the bias binding is visible. I really like how this method creates a little bit more visual interest, which I think goes really well with the texture in this fabric. Of course I here are full tutorials on how I rotated the bust dart into the side seam and then hacked Orla pattern into a shift dress. I will not be doing a full sewing tutorial for this version though, as it is not much different than sewing Orla bodice. But I did a quick tutorial on how I finished the neckline with visible binding. Let me know if a full sewing tutorial will be helpful though! I just may find enough time to create one. Love, Anya

I love shift dresses! They are so easy to wear yet look so cute. Making Orla into a shift is not difficult, although does require quite a bit pattern hacking and some patience. Before I start with the tutorial, I wanted to quickly talk about the difference between sheath and shift dresses. I find that both are quite often confused, when they are different style of the dress. Generally speaking, shift dress is slightly looser and has more ease through the waist. Whereas sheath dress is fitted through the waist and hips. If you would like to find out more, I found this little write up helpful. So now that we are clear on the differences, lets start! Tools needed Paper – you can use freezer paper, medical paper or any other paper you use for tracing patterns Pencil Eraser Ruler French Curve (not necessary, but will certainly makes things easier) Seam Allowances Make sure to mark your seam allowances on both front and back bodice pieces. We will be making all modifications from the actual seam lines. Seam allowances on Orla Dress are 3/8" or 1 cm. We will add those back in once the hack is all done. Measurements You will also need some measurements to make this hack: hip distance from the waist seam to hip. I found it very helpful to put on my regular Orla dress on to measure this correctly from the actual waist seam. For reference, I am 5'10" and my distance was 8 1/2" Length of your Orla dress skirt pattern piece. Mine is 19 3/4" without hem allowance. Front Bodice Modifications In order to hack your Orla into shift dress, you will first need to rotate your bust darts into the side seam. Trace your front bodice piece onto a new piece of paper that is long enough to fit an entire dress length. Lengthen the center front line. When you rotate the dart, the waist seam becomes slightly curved. Straighten it, so it is perpendicular to the center front line. Measure your distance from the waist seam to the hip down the center front line from the waist line. Draw a line perpendicular to the center front line. This will be line 1. Take your hip measurement and divide it by 4. Add 7/8" to that measurement, this is the amount of ease at the hip. (Hip / 4) + 7/8" My resulting number was 11 1/5" . Measure that distance from center front line on line 1. This is point 2. Note that my dress has 3 1/2" of TOTAL ease at the hips. This was a personal decision and you can add more or a little less ease if you like. Using French Curve, true the side seam from the dart down and draw a new side seam from the waist down. I kept the same amount of ease at the waist as the original pattern, but this is where you could add more if you would like. On the center front line measure the skirt length distance from the waist seam (not line 1) and draw a line perpendicular to the center front. This is line 3 below. I wanted my shift dress not to be too flared, but also not too straight. So I added 1/2" to my final hip measurement (point 2) and marked that distance as point 4 on line 3. Mine was 12". Connect points 2 and 4 with a straight line. Now let's even out the skirt hem. Measure the distance between line 1 and 3. Mark the same distance on the side seam from point 2. This is point 5. Using French curve draw a new hem line connecting roughly the middle of the old hem with point 5. Back Bodice Modifications Trace your back bodice pattern piece onto a separate piece of paper that is long enough to fit an entire dress pattern on it. Extend the center back seam line down. Square off the waist line so it is perpendicular to the center back line. Just like with the front bodice, measure your distance from the waist seam to the hip from the waist seam on the center back line. Draw a line perpendicular to center back line. This is your line 1. We are going to mark point 2, just like we did with the front bodice. Point 2 on the back bodice is the same distance away from the center back, as point 2 on the front bodice is away from center front. To remind you, this is your hip divided it by 4, and 7/8" added to it. (Hip / 4) + 7/8" Measure that distance from center back line on line 1, mark point 2. Using French curve draw a side seam line. On center back line, measure skirt length from the waist seam, not line 1. Draw a line through it, perpendicular to the center back line. On line 3, mark point 4, the same distance away as point 4 is on the the front of the dress. To remind you, I added 1/2" to my final hip measurement, so (Hip / 4) + 7/8" +1/2" Connect point 2 and 4 with a straight line. Now, measure the distance from line 1 to line 3 on center back line, and mark point 5 the same distance away from point 2 on the side seam. Using French curve, draw a new hem line by connecting point 5 with the old hem line. Back Darts You have an option of completely ignoring back darts and sewing the dress without them. This will result in a looser fitting dress. But if you want the darts, I am going to show you how to draw them in. Draw a straight line through the middle of the back dart down to line 1. On this line, measure 5 1/4" down from line 1. Mark this as point 6. Connect both bases of the old dart legs to point 6. You are done with the hardest part! Now, trace your pattern pieces if you would like. Add seam allowances and hem allowance. Mark grain lines, cutting lines, notches and labels. I highly recommend that you put together a muslin using this new shift dress pattern. It will help you figure out if the pattern needs further changes and adjustments. I did muslin my first shift dress and I ended up taking it a little more at the back darts. I think I added ~1/2" more to depth of each one. Other than that, I didn't make any other adjustments. I will not be doing a sewing tutorial for this dress, since it is easier that original Orla. You essentially are sewing a big bodice! Just like with other Orla's you can add facing and lining to this dress. You can also make it sleeveless if you would like. Let me know if you have any questions! Until then, Anya

I am back today with a few more posts including this quick tutorial on how to rotate bust darts on your Orla dress, or any other dress or bodice pattern for that matter. I am doing this to get the pattern ready for shift dress hack, but you may just prefer different darts or something... I don't know, but knowing this definitely comes in handy when pattern hacking. I will only be rotating bust darts so front bodice is the only pattern piece I will need. The new bust dart is shown in a red line in the image below. The print of the fabric is so busy and it is hard to see the dart otherwise. Make sure you draw your seam allowances in as it is important to do all your pattern modifications from the actual stitching lines. Seam allowances on Orla are 3/8" or 1cm. Tools needed Paper – you can use freezer paper, medical paper or any other paper you use for tracing patterns Pencil Eraser Ruler Tape Mark 2" down from the armscye on the side seam. Draw a line through the mark to the tip of the dart. Cut the dart completely out and cut the line you just drew to the tip of the dart but not through it. If you did cut through the dart like I did, that's okay, we will be taping everything down eventually. Bring the legs of the original dart together and tape them closed. As you do that, a new dart will open up on the side seam, right where you cut through the line you drew. Put a piece of paper under your new dart and tape dart legs down. Extend the top part of the side seam to the middle of the new dart. Draw a line connecting the bottom dart leg with the side seam line ups just drew. That's it! Now you will need to trace your new bodice piece to a new piece of paper. Ensure the new dart legs are the same length. Also you may need to slightly true your new waist seam so that it doesn't have any sharp angles. Add your seam allowances back in. Ensure your have your cutting guidelines and notches, marked on the pattern. Label it and that's it! You will need to complete this step in order to hack your Orla into a Shift Dress, the steps for which can be found here. I hope it helps and let me know if you have any questions. Love, Anya

What a week! Life has been insanely busy this week and I have fell a few days behind on my contributions to Orla Affair. For that I apologize. I am taking this weekend off all other activities so that I can catch up on my blogging and have the rest of tutorials coming your way on schedule. Today I am back with sewing tips for making this box pleat Orla Dress with lined bodice and a waistband. So, let's jump right in. I assume that you have already cut out all your Orla pattern pieces as follows: front bodice x1, on fold - both from main fabric and lining back bodice x 2 - both from main fabric and lining front waistband x1, on fold - from main fabric, lining and interfacing back waistband x2 - from main fabric, lining and interfacing front skirt x1, on fold - main fabric back skirt x2 - main fabric Optional: pocket pieces x4 - either from lining or main fabric Bodice and Waistband Interface front waistband and black waistband pieces. This step is not necessary, but I do recommend it if your fabric is light or very soft. I did not interface my waistband pieces, and the dress is absolutely fine. Stay-stitch neckline of both front bodice and back bodice pieces. Stay-stitching will prevent neckline from stretching out. The original pattern instructions do not call for it, but since we are working with a v-neck, which has more bias to it, make sure you add it in. To stay-stitch, stitch close to the neckline, within seam allowance. Start stitching from the shoulders and stitch towards the center front or back. For front pieces, stitch twice, from one shoulder to center front and then from the other shoulder to center front. This will prevent fabric from stretching out further. Sew darts on front bodice pieces and both back bodice pieces and press them to the centre front and back, respectively. With right sides together pin front waistband piece to front bodice, matching center fronts and darts to notches. Sew. Repeat with the back bodice pieces and back waistbands. Press bodice and seam allowances open on both front and back bodice pieces. Repeat steps 3-5 f0r lining pieces. To attach lining to the bodice, we will follow the exact same steps as we did when we attached facing to the bodice. You can find them here. Follow steps 5-11. Remember, you will not be finishing the center back seam until the skirt is attached and zipper is inserted. You will also not be finishing the bottom of the lining since it will also be enclosed once the skirt is attached. Box Pleat Skirt Sewing box pleat skirt is very easy! On front skirt piece, with right sides together, match the two notches for one of the pleats. Pin them together and stitch vertically down for ~1". Repeat for the other box pleat. Working from the inside, open the skirt up and align each pleat so that the fullness is equally distributed on either side of the pleat seam. Press. Do not press all the way down the skirt, just enough so that the pleat lies flat. Baste the pleats to the skirt so they stay in place. If you want to add pockets to this skirt, the steps to sew pockets can be found here. Follow steps 3-7 for "Pockets and Skirt". If you are skipping the pockets, finish your skirt side seams. With right sides together sew your skirt side seams and press them open. I forgot to mention it in my other post, but this is where I also like to press the hem allowance on my skirt to the inside. It is a lot easier to so it at this point when the skirt is still flat and not attached to the bodice. This way by the time I am ready to hem the dress the hard work of pressing the seam allowance is already done,. Attach skirt to bodice by sewing with right sides together, while making sure side seams of the skirt are aligned with the side seams of the waistband. Zipper and finishing the bodice Working from the right side of the bodice, pull the lining away and pin an invisible zipper to one of the sides of the centre back seam. Stitch the zipper in place close to the zipper teeth. Repeat for the other side, ensuring the waist seam is aligned. Finish the rest of the centre back seam below the zipper and press seam allowances open. The illustration below is from tutorial that doesn't have a waistband, and has a gathered skirt. However, the essential idea is the same. Pull the centre back seam allowance flat from behind the zipper. Flip the lining onto the bodice with right sides together. The lining will be covering the zipper. Pin along the unfinished neck edge and top part of the zipper. At the waist seam, flip the raw edge of the lining up facing you. Ensure that the bottom folded edge of the lining matches the waist seam on the dress. Sew in place, ensuring the neckline seam meets the seam used to attach facing to bodice. Sew inside the centre back seam allowance with zipper teeth on the outside of the seam, making sure not to catch them with your needle as you sew. The right side of the lining, which is flipped up, is shown in pink in illustration below. Trim the corner and using the point turner turn the facing to the inside of the bodice. Repeat for the other side. Press. Close the zipper to ensure the top edges align. If they don’t, turn the facing back to the inside and repeat the step above, stitching down the side that is longer until both neck edges match. Working from side of the dress, turn the bodice lining under. This is where turning it up in step 2 makes it so much easier to finish it. Stitch the lining to the bodice by hand. Now you just need to hem the dress, give it a final press and you are done! I hope this tutorial helps you figure out how to add lining to the bodice of Orla. Let me know if you have any questions! Love, Anya P.S. If you want to line your sleeved Orla, it is also possible. Here is a quick photo of what my lined Orla with sleeves looks like from the inside. I only finished the neckline with. the lining and then treated lining and bodice as one fabric when attaching the sleeves.

I am starting to question if I have anything against sleeves... All of my Orla hacks to date have been sleeveless. I really don't! I love sleeves! I blame the insane heat that Calgary has been through in the past few weeks for all the sleeveless Orlas that are coming your way. It has been so hot that I haven't sewn as much as I want to because turning on the iron seems like the worst form of torture. Sure, this Orla is sleeveless, but I think the similarities between this version and the other one I posted earlier stop here. On this version I have changed the neckline to a slightly curved v-neck both at the front and the back. I have added a waistband to separate the bodice from the skirt, which now has 4 box pleats instead of gathers. Oh yes, I forgot about another similarity, this Orla also has pockets. Because pockets rock. I made this dress out of absolutely stunning ivory and gold rayon brocade from Harts Fabric, which they kindy provided to me free of charge for Orla Affair tutorials. I can't thank them enough!!! This was my first time sewing with fabric from Harts Fabrics, to date I have only drooled over their website without placing an order (shipping charges to Canada and exchange rate suck!). I am so impressed with the quality of the fabrics I've received (I have another one that will be making appearance for Orla Affair later in the month) and I am not saying this because they were gifted to me. The fabrics are seriously amazing! I fell in love with this brocade when I saw it online, but it is even more beautiful in person. The outside of the fabric has gorgeous texture and beautiful gold metallic pattern to it. Whereas the inside is so soft! It almost didn't need lining, and I actually left my skirt unlined. You can barely feel the metallic thread in this fabric on the inside. If you are using this or similar fabric, I do recommend finishing the seam allowances before sewing it. The fabric frays really easily! So I serged every single seam allowance before putting the dress together. The bodice of the dress is lined with rayon bemberg lining, which makes it more stable and gives this dress a very luxurious feel. It's Calgary Stampede time here and of course being a cowgil through and through I HAD to wear the dress with my cowboy boots! I just love the juxtaposition of rough cowboy boots with gorgeous girly dress. If you would like to know more about these boots and what they mean to me, head on over to Elise Epp's blog for a guest post I did a while back. Little Skye decided to make an appearance in the photos! She loves these outings when we just hang out while I take photos. She usually runs around and sniffs all the interesting stuff, but when she is done she comes back and hangs out with me. She is so special! I have to say that I accidentally copied Allie J.'s idea of adding a waistband! Have you seen her version? If you haven't, you must. It is simply stunning, as usual. Allie uses a slightly different method of adding a waistband and hers is even easier! Anyways, I wrote a detailed tutorial on pattern modifications I made for this dress. If you would like to see how I drafted the pockets you can find a tutorial on that here. And of course I will be back with another tutorial on how I sewed it together. Love, Anya

Update: This post has been re-written and updated, visit it here.  Hope everyone is doing well! I am back today with yet another drafting tutorial. Its amazing how many variations of Orla Dress one can come up with. This variation is not too far off my last sleeveless version, yet it has a different feel to it.  Although this version of Orla is also sleeveless, the similarities pretty much stop there. This dress has a curved v-neck at the front and back, as well as a waistband and box pleats on the skirts instead of gathers. The dress is also lined at the bodice. How fun is that? So let's jump into the drafting modifications I made for this dress, shall we? Tools needed Paper – you can use freezer paper, medical paper or any other paper you use for tracing patterns Pencil Eraser Ruler French Curve (not necessary, but will certainly makes things easier) Steps You will need to make modifications to both front and back bodice pattern pieces, as well as your front and back skirt pattern pieces. Draw your seam allowances in on your pattern pieces so that you are working off the actual stitching line. To remind you, the seam allowances on Orla are 3/8″ or 1 cm. I will be working in inches. FRONT BODICE Let's start with the front bodice piece. I made the exact same changes to the armscye of this dress as with my first sleeveless Orla here. But let's go over them again. Mark point 1 on the shoulder seam 1 1/2″ away from the shoulder. Optional: Note that I also extended the shoulder to point 2 by 1/2″. This is not necessary. To create a v-neck, mark point 3 on the center front fold line, 1 3/4" away from the top. Using French curve draw a new armscye and neckline. I wanted a slight curve to my V-neck, but you are welcome to go as curved or straight as you want! EDIT: Meg kindly reminded me that normally one would need to slightly raise the armscye at the underarm as well as pinch out extra fabric on the side seam to properly convert sleeved bodice to sleeveless. I found that with Orla I didn't need to do it, however it may be just be and my body. You may need at lease to pinch out extra fabric at the side seam. Now we are going to draft a front waistband piece. I wanted my waistband to be 1 1/2" wide so I drew a new seam line in red at the bottom of the bodice, 1 1/2" up from the waist seam. The red line is where your new bodice ends. Everything below the red line is the new waist band. To eliminate the dart seam, we are going to bring the two waistline pieces together. Take out a piece of tracing paper and trace one side of the waistband, indicating a notch on the dart seam. I started with tracing left side. Once you've traced one side, move the tracing paper, aligning the notches you made with the other dart leg, and trace the rest of the waistband. Hardest part is done! Now you will have to add seam allowances to both altered front bodice and the new waistband pieces. Indicate fold line and pattern pieces names. I also like to include a reminder of how many pieces I need to cut out of fabric. Since I lined this dress, I also indicated that I need to cut these pattern pieces out of lining, but it is optional. The notches on the waist band indicate where you will align the darts when you sew the waistband to the bodice. BACK BODICE Now we will repeat the same steps for the back bodice. Don't forget to mark your seam allowances so you are making all modifications off the stitching line. The steps are identical, except I lowered the centre back line by 2 1/4". Let's walk through them again anyways. Start off by marking 3 points on your back bodice: Mark point 1 on the shoulder seam 1 1/2″ away from the shoulder. Optional: Extended the shoulder to point 2 by 1/2″ if you have done it on the front bodice. Mark point 3 on the center back seam line, 2 1/4"" away from the top. Using French Curve draw in new armscye and slightly curved neckline, if you want it to be curved. To add waistband, draw a new seam line 1 1/2" away from the waist line. Grab a piece of tracing paper and trace off one side of the new waistband, indicating a notch on the closest dart leg. Shift the tracing paper so that the notch aligns with the other dart leg and trace the rest of the waistband. Add seam allowances, mark grain lines, pattern piece and cutting guidelines Note, if your waistband pieces are too angular you may want to smooth the lines with the French curve. Edit: After making this dress and wearing it, I do recommend interfacing the bodice pieces for slightly more stability. SKIRT Now, let's convert the gathered skirt into box pleat skirt! I envisioned two box pleats at the front and two at the back, both in alignment with the dart legs. The steps are identical for front skirt and back skirt pieces, so I will guide you through changes to the front skirt pattern piece and then you will have to follow the same steps for the back skirt, but taking into account back bodice measurements. You'll see what I mean. You will need your front skirt piece and your waistband piece to help you add box pleats to the skirt piece. Measure the distance from the side seam to the notch on the bottom of the front waistband. Mark point 1 on the waist seam of the skirt the same distance away from the side seam of the skirt. Now, measure the distance from the center front fold to the notch on the front waistband pattern piece. Mark point 2 on the waist seam of the skirt piece, the same distance away from the center front fold of the skirt. That's it! Your box pleat is marked. That was easy, wasn't it? Now you will need to repeat the same steps to the back skirt piece while taking into account measurements of the back waistband piece - the distance from the side seam to the notch and from the center back seam to the notch. As usual, let me know if you have any questions! I will try to be back tomorrow with sewing guide to make this version of the dress. If it doesn't work out, as life does get in a way, I will be back on Friday at the latest. Promise. Until then, Anya

This is the most blogging I have ever done. Ever. This is my 7th post in 3 days! Insane. I am very excited to finally share the sewing steps to make sleeveless Orla with pockets and striped skirt, while using facings to finish neckline and armholes. It will be a very long and picture heavy tutorial, so grab a cup of coffee, tea or a glass of wine and join in. At this point I assume that you have done modifications to your bodice pieces to make them sleveless,drafted your facings and pockets, as well as altered skirt pieces to make striped skirt. The last step is optional however, you do not need to have a striped skirt to make a sleeveless Orla. Not all Orlas must have a striped skirt after all... I also assume that you have all your pieces cut out and ready to sew. So here we go! In this tutorial GREY means RIGHT side of fabric, and WHITE means WRONG side of fabric. Bodice and Facings Fuse interfacing strips, about 1" wide, to the wrong side of the centre back seam on each of the back bodice pieces. I like to interface the fabric where the zipper is being inserted as it provides for more stability and a nicer looking finish.At this point you can finish the centre back seams with your preferred method. Sew darts on front bodice pieces and both back bodice pieces and press them to the centre front and back, respectively. With right sides together pin front bodice to both back bodice pieces at the shoulder seams. Stitch. Press seams open. Repeat with the facing shoulder seams. Note, that at this point we are not sewing side seams. With right sides facing each other, pin facing to the bodice at the neckline. Stitch starting and ending ~1" away from the centre back seam. Leaving that extra room eases zipper insertion later. Trim the seam allowance to ~1/4" and clip into the seam allowance while being careful not to cut through the stitching line. Flip facing towards seam allowance and lightly press. Understitch the facing, starting and ending about 1 1/2" away from the centre back seam, catching seam allowance underneath.Turn facing to the wrong side of the bodice and give it a good press. We will finish armholes one by one using burrito method. EDIT: I was told that a flat armhole finish method would work here as well. I believe it is true, as I suspect I confused using this burrito method for all kinds of armhole finishes, whereas it may truly be only needed when there is no center back seam in the garment. I haven't tested a flat method yet, but I still wanted to mention it here. Working from the right side of the bodice, turn the bodice sideways so that one armhole seam is facing you and the other away from you. We will be working of the armhole that is further away from you first. Take the bodice piece that is closer to you, together with the facing, and roll not towards the other armhole. Stop halfway through the shoulder seam of the shoulder away from you. Holding the rolled bodice and facing with your hands, separate the bodice from the facing on the edge of the armhole facing away from you. Holding the rolled bodice and the rest of the bodice, flip the facing so that it lays at the the bottom on the bodice piece, close to you. Wrap the facing around the rolled bodice and pin it to the bodice at the armhole, right sides together. The rolled bodice will be enclosed in between the rest of the bodice and facing. Sew, being careful not to catch the rest of the bodice in the seam. Trim seam allowance to ~1/4" and clip into it at the curved edges, being careful not to cut through the stitching line. To turn the bodice to the right side, gently pull on the rolled part from either side of the bodice, until the whole bodice is turned out. Press. Repeat for the other armhole. Finish the raw edges of the side seams on facings and both front and back pieces with your preferred method. Flip the facings up at the side seams. Pin the side seams of the facings and bodice pieces, matching the armhole seams. Sew. Press the seams open. Finish the bottom edge of the facing with your preferred method. OR You can also finish the raw edge of the facing with a bias binding. To do so, you will need a bias binding strip the width of 1" and the length of the bottom edge of the facing. Pin the bias binding to the bottom edge of the facing with right sides together. Stitch 1/4" away from the edge. Press the bias binding down. Flip the bias binding under the facing and pin. Stitch in the ditch. Trim the excess bias binding seam allowance on the inside. Turn the facing onto the wrong side of the bodice again and give it a good press. I have filmed a video which clarifies all of the steps above. However, being technically challenged I was not able to figure out how to upload it to my computer in time for this post. I assumed my regular app that I use to transfer images from my camera to my computer would work, but sadly it doesn't. I think I need some kind of card reader thing to be able to do it. (I knew I should have used my iPhone... sigh) I will look into it right away and I will upload the video in a couple days. Hang tight snd sorry for delay! Striped skirt Below are instructions for optional striped skirt. This is how I assembled the skirt of the dress in the very first photo in this post. You will assemble front skirt piece and two skirt pieces before sewing side seams of the skirt together. We will be working with two stripes at a time. Pin the raw edges of stripe 1 and 2 together. Sew. Note that the dashed lines below indicate a different fabric colour. Finish the seam allowances together and press towards the darker stripe. Topstitch close to the seam. Attach the rest of the stripes together following the same steps, so that you have full front skirt piece and two back skirt pieces. Below is graphic of the pattern piece as a reminder of how the stripes go together. I find it helpful to keep paper pattern pinned to the fabric until I am ready to work with the pieces, as the paper pattern has all the information I need to know to figure out which stripe piece I am working with. Pockets and Skirt Stitch two lines of gathering stitches between notches on front skirt pieces and both back skirt pieces. The first line of stitches should be 1/4" away from the edge and the second line 3/8" away from the first line. Note that gathering stitches are the longest stitch on your sewing machine. Leave long tails on the stitches for the ease of gathering. Finish the raw edges of the side seams on front skirt pieces, back skirt pieces and all four pocket pieces with your preferred method. Note that you are only finishing the short side seam of the pocket pieces, not the long curved edge. With right sides together pin one of the pocket pieces to the matching side seam of the front skirt piece, ensuring the notches match. Sew from the top edge to the bottom notch at 1/4" seam allowance. Ensure that the gathering threads from the step above are not caught in the stitches. Flip the pocket onto the seam allowance. Press. Understitch in between the notches. Repeat the same steps for the other front skirt side seam, and both back skirt pieces. With right side together, pin back skirt piece to the matching side of the front skirt piece. Stitch from the top edge of the skirt side seam to the first notch, and from the second notch to the bottom of the skirt. Stitch all around the curved pocket piece, stopping at the side skirt seam. Finish the raw edge of the pocket. Clip into side seam allowance on the back skirt piece right at the pocket notches, being careful not to cut through the seam line. This part of the seam allowance will be pressed towards the front skirt to make for a nicer pocket. Press side skirt seam allowances open, and pocket to the front. Repeat for the other side. Pin the skirt to the bodice at the side seams. Gently pull bobbin threads from both sides of the front skirt piece until the fullness is gathered to match the length of the bodice. Distribute the gathers evenly and pin, ensuring the pocket pieces are pinned towards the front. Repeat for the back skirt pieces. Sew skirt to the bodice. Pull the gathering threads out and discard. Finish seam allowances together and press to the top. Zipper Working from the right side of the bodice, pull the facing away and pin an invisible zipper to one of the sides of the centre back seam. Stitch the zipper in place close to the zipper teeth. Repeat for the other side, ensuring the waist seam is aligned. Finish the rest of the centre back seam below the zipper and press seam allowances open. Pull the centre back seam allowance flat from behind the zipper. Flip the facing onto the bodice with right sides together. The facing will be covering the zipper. Pin along the unfinished neck edge and top part of the zipper. Sew in place, ensuring the neckline seam meets the seam used to attach facing to bodice. Sew inside the centre back seam allowance with zipper teeth on the outside of the seam, making sure not to catch them with your needle as you sew. Trim the corner and using the point turner turn the facing to the inside of the bodice. Repeat for the other side. Press. Close the zipper to ensure the top edges align. If they don't, turn the facing back to the inside and repeat the step above, stitching down the side that is longer until both neck edges match. Finishing Align facing and bodice at the side seams and pin. Attach facing to the bodice by stitching in the ditch in the side seam at bottom edge of the facing for about 3/8". Hem the dress with your preferred method. You are done!! I really hope these instructions help you in your sleeveless Orla assembly. Let me know if you have any questions. Some of the steps are rather complicated and it is pretty late as I am typing this, and I may have had a few glasses of wine... I am going to take a little break for a few days, but I will sure be back with the video I promised above and another Orla hack and sewing steps. Until then, Anya

Sometimes it is hard to find the exact striped fabric you have in mind. Be it the width of the stripes or the colours, the fabric is not always what you want it to be. Well it doesn't have to be difficult, since you can make your own striped fabric! In this blog post I will walk you step by step through the changes I made to Orla dress skirt pieces to make a black and white striped skirt. Tools needed Paper, any paper you use for tracing patterns. I use medical paper. Pencil Eraser Ruler French Curve (not necessary, but makes things easier) About Stripes I am all for sewing your own striped fabric! You can really play with width of the stripes and the colours. The only suggestion I have is to use either identical fabric in different colours or fabric of same or similar weight and drape. Steps You will need both your front and back skirt pieces. The changes you make to the one side will be identical to the changes you make on the other pattern piece. As usual, mark your seam allowances in, or be wary of them because otherwise it will throw off the calculations and slightly change the look of the stripes. Orla's seam allowances are 3/8" or 1 cm. Just a note, my hem seam allowance is 2 1/2". I will show you the steps on the front skirt pattern piece, and you will have to repeat them for the back skirt piece. Start off by marking points 1-4 on one of the side seam of the skirt pattern piece. The distance for the points is as follows: 1 - 4.5" from the top 2 - 4" from point 1 3 - 2 1/4" from point 2 4 - 5 3/4" from point 3 If my calculations are correct, this results in the bottom stripe being 3 1/2" wide, not including hem allowance of 2 1/2". Draw the lines through each point, parallel to the waist line. Your stripes are ready! I marked each stripe with the stripe number and colour, so that everything is super clear. Now you will need to trace each stripe out as a separate pattern piece. Add seam allowances back in and a hem allowance to the bottom of Stripe 5. Do not forget that the front stripe pieces will be cut on fold, and the back stripe pieces will be cut 2 of each stripe. There you go! If you want to learn how to change a sleeved bodice into a sleeveless bodice, go here. If you want to learn how to draft inseam pockets, go here. If you want to learn how to draft facings, go here. Tomorrow I will be back with the instructions on how to put the whole thing together. As usual, feel free to ask questions! Until then, Anya

Altering a sleeved bodice to make it sleeveless is very easy. It doesn't take long at all and it is a fun way to make most of your pattern. In this blog post I will show you how you can do it. Tools needed Paper – you can use freezer paper, medical paper or any other paper you use for tracing patterns Pencil Eraser Ruler French Curve (not necessary, but will certainly makes things easier) About Sleeveless Bodice On a sleveless bodice shoulder line is brought in and does not line exactly on the tip of your shoulder. Because Orla dress has sleeves, if you were to just ignore the sleeves and sew the bodice as is, the shoulder would be too wide and will look a little off. So the main objective here is to bring shoulders in a little bit. Steps You will need to make modifications to both front and back bodice pattern pieces. Draw your seam allowances in on your pattern pieces so that you are working off the actual stitching line. To remind you, the seam allowances on Orla are 3/8" or 1 cm. I will be working in inches. I will show you the steps using the front bodice piece. The steps are identical for the back bodice, so make sure to make the changes to it after you are done with the front bodice. Mark point 1 on the shoulder seam 1 1/2" away from the shoulder. Optional: Note that I also extended the shoulder to point 2 by 1/2". I wanted to slightly change the neckline of the dress by bringing the shoulder in a little bit. Using a French curve draw a new armscye and a new neckline if you extended the shoulder like I did. Repeat the same steps to the back bodice. Note that if you extended the shoulder line (point 2) on the front bodice you will have to do the same thing for the back bodice. EDIT: Meg kindly reminded me that normally one would need to slightly raise the armscye at the underarm as well as pinch out extra fabric on the side seam to properly convert sleeved bodice to sleeveless. I found that with Orla I didn't need to do it, however it may be just be and my body. You may need at lease to pinch out extra fabric at the side seam. Draw your seam allowances back in and that's it. You are done! See how easy it was. Now, this is where I went ahead and drafted a facing for my new sleeveless pattern pieces. If you are not using a facing and are intending to finish the armholes with bias binding, just remember to cut a few more bias bindings out when you are cutting out your pattern pieces. If you want to learn how to draft inseam pockets, go here. If you want to find out how I drafted striped skirt, go here. As usual, let me know if you have any questions. I hope it helps! Love, Anya