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Imagine this. You just finished sewing a pattern, and when you try it on in front of the mirror, your first thought is, “I want to sew this again and again.”
That’s what a tried and true pattern feels like to wear. It’s a pattern that exactly fits your style and body—and you want to sew it over and over again in every color. And you totally can sew it over and over in every color. But at the same time, you don't want to have a Flintstones wardrobe—where you’re always wearing the same thing every day.
This is where the real sewing magic happens.
With your new favorite sewing pattern in hand, the creative possibilities are totally endless. Below is a long list of ideas for pattern hacks, extra notions to add flair, and fun ways to transform your tried and true patterns into the dynamic wardrobe of your dreams. You know how to sew clothes. You can do any of the following—and don’t stop there. So what else can you do with this mighty little pattern?
25 Creative Ways to Make the Most of Your Patterns
There are three main ways to transform a sewing project. You can hack it, add embellishments, or play with the fabric. Each of these has hundreds of options, maybe more—is there ever a limit to your creativity? Below are our favorite ideas and tons of resources from the Seamwork archives to help you make the most of your sewing patterns.
Find a Pattern Hack
By employing a clever pattern hack, a single pattern can turn into dozens of variations. However, you don’t have to go big with your pattern hacks. Sometimes the simplest alterations can really change how a pattern looks.
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Shorten or lengthen your pattern. This is one of the most straightforward pattern hacks you can perform, but it’s also one of the best ways to change how a pattern fits. And remember, you can shorten or lengthen any part of the pattern, not just the overall length. Tutorial >> How to Lengthen or Shorten a Sewing Pattern. -
Add or reduce volume. With a method called slashing and spreading, you can increase or decrease the volume in an area on your pattern. This is especially useful for sleeves. Tutorial >> How to Slash and Spread a Pattern. -
Turn a shirt into a dress (or a dress into a shirt). Have you noticed that the difference between a dress and a shirt is often just a simple seam at the waistline? If you like the bodice on a dress, just skip the skirt or shorten it and wear it as a shirt. Or, if you want to add a skirt, you can lengthen the top. You can create an A-line shape, add tiers, or even add a high-low hem or split hem. -
Change the neckline. We have a free sewalong that will teach you how to raise, lower, or change the shape of any neckline on a sewing pattern. -
Change the sleeves. For a few ideas to start, try hacking gigot sleeves, bell sleeves, gathered sleeves, petal sleeves, and flutter sleeves. -
Get creative with fullness. You can add pleats or turn pleats into gathers. Or, you can add elasticized peplums or gathered skirts. You can even add half gathers to a top, tunic, or dress. -
Add texture to your fabric with pintucks. Tutorial >> Create and Sew Pintucks. -
Or add texture with shirring. Tutorial >>A Guide to Shirring. -
Make a Franken-pattern. Mash up two or more different patterns to create something entirely different. The catch is that you have to treat this much like an actual experiment. Things aren't going to line up totally perfectly, but that's kind of the fun of it. You can combine a bodice from one dress with the skirt of another, or swap collars and hems.
Add Surface Design and Embellishment
A little bit of embellishment at the seams or hems of your garment can make a statement. For example, you can add a vintage touch with ricrac or lace. Or add color with pom poms or bias tape applied to an edge, instead of a facing. If you have more time, create pintucks, apply applique, or try decorative machine stitching.
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Use decorative stitches. If your sewing machine has a bunch of unfamiliar stitches, get some swatches and see what kinds of details you can add to your garments. Tutorial >> A Guide to Decorative Machine Stitching -
Add a ladder lace insertion. This trim adds a pretty vintage detail between layers or seams on a blouse, skirt, or dress. Tutorial >> How to Sew a Ladder Lace Insertion. -
Create modern appliqué. It doesn’t have to resemble your Grandma’s appliqué (although that is great, too), and you can create a more modern approach to appliqué. Tutorial >> Modern Appliqué. -
Sew a shell tuck hem. Your eyes are drawn to necklines and hems on sleeves. A picot or scalloped edge is an easy way to make a simple garment stand out. Tutorial >> Sew a Quick and Easy Shell Tuck Hem. -
Learn how to embroider. A little bit of embroidery can mend your clothing, but you can also embroider your clothes just for fun. Add designs to pockets and yokes. Tutorial >> How to Add Magic to Your Clothes with Embroidery. -
Don’t forget about buttons. Adding mismatched or vintage buttons to a project is a great way to customize a garment, but you can also add buttons where the pattern doesn’t include them. You can create your own faced button placket for the front or back of your pattern. You can also add a button placket to the shoulder seam. And a decorative faux button placket is just as effective. Simply sew the buttons through both layers of fabric rather than creating buttonholes.
Sew it in a Different Fabric
Sometimes you can’t recognize the same pattern if you sew it up in two totally different fabrics. You could go from having a very light and flowy garment to having something much more structured by changing the fabric. You could also use a more unexpected fabric, like leather or organza, something that you typically wouldn't see, and that's going to give it a totally different look. So think about how the fabric could become your garment's focal point.
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Try a different drape. Learning about the weight and drape of fabrics gives you the ultimate control over your garment’s silhouette. Do you want something flowy or something structured? Read >> How to Buy Fabric Online: Know your Terms | Weight and Drape. -
Go from wovens to knits. Is your fabric a chameleon? Sometimes a pattern designed for wovens also works well in knits. You just need to ask a few questions.Read >> From Woven to Knit. -
Switch up your stripes. If you are using striped fabric, cut it on the crosswise or bias grain. This is a great detail for pockets, plackets, collars, cuffs, and yokes. Read >> Matching Stripes like a Pro. -
Add color-blocking. If your pattern doesn’t have seamlines for color-blocking, you can add them. It’s just a matter of cutting the pattern piece and adding seam allowance. Tutorial >> How to Color-block Sewing Patterns. -
Sew a fun lining. Add an unexpected print or color to your linings, pockets, and inner waistbands. If your skirt doesn’t have a lining, you can add one. -
Add character to your denim. Create rips, fades, and light distressing. Tutorial >> 4 Ways to Add Character to Your Denim. -
Mix and Match prints. You can use two similar prints in one garment, especially if you play with scale. For example, use a big check and a smaller gingham in the same color family. -
Experiment with dyeing. You can try natural dye or ombré dip-dyeing. You can also paint with dye like you would with a set of watercolors or create unique designs by hand. -
Try other surface design techniques. This can turn into an entirely new hobby. Learn cyanotype, discharge printing or screenprint a repeat geometric pattern. -
Use your fabric scraps. Your scraps can turn into new textiles. You can even try quilting them to create a cozy garment. Tutorial >> Let’s Sew a Quilted Jacket.
This round-up just scratches the surface of all the possible ways you can work with a single pattern. Isn’t that empowering? If you find a hack, embellishment, or fabric trick you love, share your project in the Seamwork Community.
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