When Mya shared a picture of a maxi tank dress with a color blocked bottom I just knew I had to make one for myself using the Marina. I started digging through my fabrics to find the perfect trio for my make. I had my little piece of Iris sitting out from my last Marina sew and knew I wanted to use it so I laid my other ALD fabrics next to it until I had my "that's it!" moment. My other fabrics were: Copper Tricot and burgundy mesh. The Copper Tricot is out of stock, but the Copper Sportivo is available and looks lovely next to Iris too!
Splitting the Pattern
I decided that I wanted another curved hem Marina so I took my pattern and set my fabrics out along it to see where I wanted my color blocking to be placed. I decided that the first cut would be at the top of the slit so I drew a straight line across my pattern at that point. The width of my Iris section was determined by the width of the my fabric piece. My next line was drawn about 1" narrower than my fabric to make sure I had enough for the seam allowances plus a little wiggle room. I cut my pattern pieces along my drawn lines and got ready to cut my fabric, making sure to keep my long quilting ruler handy so I could add my seam allowances where I had split the pattern.
The collage below shows my pattern piece with the lines drawn (my pattern piece is adjusted for my height 5' 2"), my pattern split into three pieces, and my (very scuffed) quilting ruler laid on top of the fabric and pattern piece, with 1/4" of the ruler hanging over the pattern.
Cutting
When cutting my fabric pieces I needed to add seam allowances where I am joining my fabrics. I kept the seam allowance used in the pattern and used my long quilting ruler to cut 1/4" away from where I had split the pattern. When I was done cutting I had two of each of the three sections I had split my pattern in to.: using the same fabric for each section, but you can mix and match them for even more fun! I also had to cut a 1/4" notch at the top of my Iris pieces to match the pattern.
The collage below shows my main pattern pieces cut on the left, one piece cut with the pattern piece and rotary on top still (to show the seam allowances added), and the last shows the notches cut in the top of the center pieces for the slit.
If you are uncomfortable with adding the seam allowance to the straight edges with a ruler this way you can extend the pattern pieces with paper, draw the new cut lines, and trim off the excess. Remember to do that to each side of the split. A chisel tip highlighter is great for adding the seam allowance if you don't have access to a long ruler.
Sewing
Now for the fun part, sewing! I sewed and topstitched the color blocking from the bottom up. The topstitching is not necessary, but it keeps the seams from flipping back and forth and adds a little extra stability if you have little ones tugging on your clothes like I do! Once my pieces were sewn together I finished constructing my dress according to the pattern.
The picture below shows my color blocked pieces sewn together and topstitched. Normally the seams are folded down before topstitching, but because my bottom section is mesh I folded that seam up.
Then I put on my fancy new dress and showed it off! I also used my scoop neck hack to get two looks with one dress again.
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