In this tutorial, we'll show you how to turn a top into a dress using the Confiance top pattern.
It's very easy and will only take you about a quarter of an hour, BUT it doesn't work in every case! In fact, the pattern was designed for a summer top, not a dress.
Will this tutorial work with my measurements?
As a reminder, here we’re just tinkering a bit and taking advantage of the fact that the Confiance top is very easy to build.
The idea was to let beginners make mistakes without suffering the consequences, and to avoid having to make too many adjustments. So the conversion only works if there’s a difference of two sizes or less between your hip measurement and your bust measurement.
To see if this tutorial works for you, we've put together a quick summary table:
As a reminder, the Confiance top is far from form-fitting—and the same goes for the dress created using the technique described below.
| My bust measurement is a 38 and my hip measurement is a 40 | OK, it works |
| My bust measurement is a 38, and my hip measurement is a 42 | OK, it works, but that's about it. With a fabric that has 2 or 3% spandex, though, it's perfect! |
| My bust measurement is a 38 and my hip measurement is a 44 | NO, it won't be possible to squeeze your butt in and sit down |
| My bust measurement is a 38 and my hip measurement is a 36 | It's quite roomy! Maybe even a little too roomy—you'll have to see for yourself once you try it on. |
Steps for Turning a Top into a Dress
Start by pinning your back piece as usual (piece #2 for Version A and #8 for Version B)
Measure from your waist down to the desired length of the dress, then add 2 cm for the hem allowance. Transfer this measurement (here, 55 cm) to the fabric, starting from the waistline of the top (the line where it says: lengthen/shorten/adjust).
Draw a line to mark the bottom of the dress.
Measure the length of the bottom of the pattern.
Postpone this measure several times.
Connect all the marks to each other to finish tracing the side of the dress.
TA-DA! Now all you have to do is do the same with the front!
