Barcelona dress hack

The Barcelona dress is available in 3 versions: the top, the short dress and the midi dress. Discover in this article a bonus version for a 100% bohemian look. This midi dress is composed of three flounces.

First cut out the front and the back linings twice at the fold and the 4 straps. One of the linings will be cut on the fabric (we'll call it the bust) and the other on the lining. We will then add the flounces to the bust.
Once the dress bust and the lining have been cut out, form the darts as indicated in the instructions booklet then assemble the front lining and the back lining together, and the front bust and the back bust together. Stitch with a 1cm seam allowance.

Place the bust on the lining right sides together and stitch along the armholes and the neckline as indicated in the booklet.
Fold and sew the straps as indicated in the instructions and place each strap between the lining and the bust of the dress.

We are now going to create the flounces:

First determine the length of the desired dress by placing the front lining pattern on the front dress pattern. From the bottom of the lining measure the additional length you want to add. In this example, the length chosen from the bottom of the lining is 80cm.

So I divided 80cm by 3 to get the height of each flounce before adding the seam allowances. (80/3) + 2 = 28.6cm The height of each flounce is therefore 28.6 cm. If you only want 2 flounces, you just have to do this calculation (80/2)+2 = 42.

In this example, we will choose to make 3 flounces, each having a height of 28.6cm.

Now that we have determined the height of each flounce, we are going to calculate the necessary width of each flounce. Be careful, that's when the calculations get a bit tricky.

Creation of the 3 flounces

First flounce: The width of the first ruffle is based on the bottom width of the front lining + the bottom width of the back lining. I added these two widths together and added 20%. Why 20%? So as not to have a flounce that is too bulky. You can easily change this number by increasing or decreasing the percentage. A toile helps to visualize the desired width. The base calculation is: (front lining width+back lining width) + 20%)/ 4 (24.40 (=half front lining X2 for size 38) + 22.44 (= half back lining X 2 for size 38)) + 20%) / 4 = 28.10 Draw a rectangle 28.10cm wide and 28.6cm high. This rectangle will represent your first flounce. Trace this rectangle on fabric 2 x at the fold (front flounce and back flounce to be assembled later):

This illustration corresponds to size 38. For any other size, the calculation must be made.

Second flounce: Calculating the second flounce is easier than the first one, I promise! The height of the second flounce is equal to the first one, unless you have decided otherwise. In this example, the height is the same. The width is 28.10cm (for size 38) + 20% = 33.72 cm Trace this rectangle on fabric 2 x at the fold (front flounce and back flounce to be assembled later).

This illustration corresponds to size 38. For any other size, the calculation must be made.

Third flounce:

The principle is the same for the third flounce. The width of the third one is 20% larger than that the one of the second flounce: 33.72 (for size 38) + 20% = 40.46cm. The height remains the same: 28.6cm. Trace this rectangle on fabric 2 x at the fold (front flounce and back flounce to be assembled later).

Assembly of the flounces

Once the flounces have been created and then drawn on the fabric, we will assemble the front and back of each flounce. Place the front and the back of the first right sides together and stitch the sides 1cm from the edge.

Follow the same process for the other flounces.

Creation of gathers

Your front and back flounces are now assembled together. Finish and press seams open. We are going to move on to the gathers:

Mark the center front and center back by folding the flounce seam to seam. Also mark the middle front and the middle back of the bust of the dress.
Set your sewing machine to the lowest tension and longest stitch. It is thanks to these two adjustments that we will create the gathers.
Start sewing the gather 0.5cm from the edge of your flounce without stopping. Continue to sew all the way, leaving enough thread at the end of the seam.

Repeat this step 1cm from the edge. These two parallel threads will help us to have beautiful gathers. Please note: gathers are only made on the upper part of each flounce. For the first flounce, the upper part is the one that will be sewn to the bust of the dress.

Place the ruffle on the bust of the dress right sides together, making sure the side seams match as well as the middle front and back and distribute the gathers over the entire width so that the width of the flounce and the width of the bust match. Sew the flounce to the top of the dress 1cm from the edge using your sewing machine on the basic setting. Remove the gather threads and finish seams closed.

Repeat this step for the second and third flounces. Once the gathers have been created (only on the top of the flounce), place the second flounce on the first flounce right sides together, making sure the width of the second flounce matches the first and sew with a 1cm seam allowance. Finish and press seams closed.