DIY wrap dress using a cardigan pattern

For someone who claims to love wrap dresses, I certainly don’t have enough of them in my wardrobe. I have tried my fair share of wrap dress sewing patterns over the last couple of years and nothing really stuck to me. Especially those for knit fabrics where a complete disaster! So when I first designed the Nikki cardigan, I knew I wanted to try and hack it into a wrap dress. And today I’m really pleased that I can report back, because I did it! I made a wrap dress using a cardigan pattern and I’m going to tell you how.

 As I already told you, I based this wrap dress on the Nikki Cardigan, one of my own patterns. It is basically a wrap cardigan and one of its versions comes down to hip length, so all I had to do is lengthen it a bit and make a couple more modifications to turn it into a dress.

Drafting Stage

The first thing I did was to try on one of my Nikki cardigans and see how much length would I need to add to create a knee length dress. I had decided from the beginning that I wasn’t going to put the hem band on the dress, so I took that into consideration.

Then I traced my pattern pieces (front cardigan, back cardigan and neckline binding) on to a new piece of paper, making sure I was leaving enough room at the bottom to add the length I needed.

According to my measuring, I needed to add 25 cm (10″). Don’t forget to count 2 cm (1″) for your hem allowance as well.

Using my straight ruled, I added that amount to the bottom of my front and back cardigan pieces. BUT, I also needed to add this amount to the neckline binding piece. This is a little bit trickier, so let me explain what I did. 

On the original Nikki cardigan, the neckline binding is used to finish the edge of the neckline and it extends all the way down, finishing the edge of the hem band as well. But for my wrap dress hack, I had decided not to use the hem band, so I had to remove that from the neckbinding piece.

I took my hem band pattern piece and measured its width. Then I divided this number in half (because the hem band is being folded and then attached to the hem) and I also removed the 1 cm seam alowance that was included.

On my newly traced neckline binding pattern piece, I then removed that amount from one end and added the 25 cm (10″) I needed, so that it would be long enough to go all around the edge of my wrap dress. Obvisously, if you want to keep the hem band, you do not have to do that. And, as a little tip, if you are unsure about your measuring and drafting skills, you can always cheat and make this neckline binding a bit longer and chop off the extra bit after you attach it on your dress!

The next thing I had to do at the drafting stage was to reshape the front piece of my cardigan. I was a little bit afraid that it wasn’t going to be wide enough and when I wrapped the dress around me, it wouldn’t give me enough coverage. So I used my French curve (you don’t necessarily need it by the way) and extended the front curve by 5 cm (2″) starting from the hem and smoothing it out to nothing as I was moving upwards, closer to bust height.

That way I created two wider front wrap pieces that were not going to open and reveal all my underwear -lol!

The last thing I had to do was to draft the two ties. This was easy and it pretty much personal preference, depending on how wide and how long you want them to be.

The tie that goes on the outside piece (the piece that wraps over) is going to be shorter, while the one that goes under needs to be longer, because it will wrap around your body. For reference, my ties were 110 cm (43″) and 65 cm (26″) long and 6 cm (2,5″) wide. Don’t forget to take into account the 1 cm (3/8″) seam allowance for both ends of your tie and for the long side.

Construction

And that was all in regards to the drafting stage. When I started sewing the dress, I followed the exact same steps as described in the Nikki Cardigan booklet with a few additions:

I had to construct my ties and attach them to the dress, before stitching the neckline binding on. To construct each tie, you will need to fold it in half, right sides together, and start stitching from one end, pivoting at the corner and continuing to stitch all the way to the other end (don’t stitch the other end closed!). Then, you will turn your tie right sides out from the side you left unstitched. Give it a good press.

To attach your ties, I recommend trying the dress on as soon as you stitch the shoulder seams. Determine how high you want your ties to be (usually where your natural waist is) and mark with pins. Attach your neckline binding with pins and before you stitch it on, pin the ties on each front piece, matching the raw edges. Stitch both your neckline binding and ties at the same time.

I found that my ties didn’t look as neat underneath the neckline binding, so I also did a couple of handstitches to prevent the binding from folding back and twisting.

The last thing you’ll need to do is to leave a hole at one of the side seams, in order for one tie to pass though it and wrap around your body. I chose to do that on my right side. You’ll simply need to pin your side seam from the sleeve hem, all the way down to the dress hem, put the dress on and marked where you want the tie to come through. I then stitched the side seam as usual, leaving this area unstitched. You may wish to topstitch around the hole, but because my fabric wasn’t fraying, I decided to leave it as it was.

And that’s it! I promise you, it may sound complicated but it’s not. You’ll just need to do some preparation beforehand and draft your new pieces, but overall it’s a fairly easy hack.

The fabric I used is a thin jersey from Olumis Fabrics, which has the perfect wintery colors and fits so well in my wardrobe. I can’t wait to wear it out during the holidays 🙂

I hope you enjoyed this hack and if you try it, please let me know! I would love to see. You can tag me on Instagram @athinakakou or use the hashtags #akpatterns #aknikki #nikkicardigan

Of course, if you don’t have a copy of the pattern yet, click HERE to get it.

Until the next time, happy sewing!

Athina