I’ve got a fresh off the machine Reynolds Dress to share today! The Reynolds Top and Dress pattern is one of my personal favourites because I love the shaping through the body and the square neckline. This pattern comes with wide straps, but I thought it would be fun to make one with narrow spaghetti straps and see how it looks. Turns out it is awesome! Let’s take a look.
You can grab Reynolds in our shop right now for 25% off!
For this make, I chose a rayon challis fabric. I love making things out of rayon challis because this fabric is so soft, flowy, and it comes in so many fun prints! This one is a black and white leafy design that I wanted to showcase on a make that did not have very many style lines to break it up. Reynolds is perfect for showcasing a print like this! It has a center back seam, but the front is nice and solid.
I made a size 20 based on my measurements and I did not have to make many adjustments to make this fit perfectly. I added some length for my height (I’m 5'9.5”) and I took the dress in a smidge at the underarm to get a tighter fit there. Reynolds has subtle shaping through the center back seam and the side seams, but it fits loose enough that you can pull it on overhead. I love that about this design!
As I mentioned, the pattern comes with wide straps and I have always enjoyed that look. It wasn't until recently that I thought about hacking this pattern to have a narrow strap and I’m so glad I decided to try it! It looks really elegant, and I was able to position the straps perfectly so that they cover my spaghetti bra straps really well.
To make a narrower strap. I simply cut one strap from the pattern piece and interfaced the whole thing. I then cut it in half lengthwise to get two straps. I stitched them so that they were about ⅜” (1 cm) wide and I trimmed the seam allowance and turned them right side out. Easy peasy!
As for strap placement, there is a page in the Reynolds instruction booklet (page 23) where I go over how to pin or baste the straps in place and try the garment on to check the fit. You want to be sure to do this with the spaghetti strap so you can position it exactly where you want it. Ideally you do this with the bra you plan to wear. Trim away any excess on the outside of the straps if you move them in from the edges.
I had a lot of fun styling this dress! I knew I wanted to take pics in front of my favourite rhododendron because it is blooming right now. I took inspiration from the flowers and went with hot pink accessories.
I recently picked up these heels at a huge discount and I’m so glad I finally have the outfit for them! The earrings are from Scandinazn, and I made this cute giant scrunchie a while back. How perfect! It looks just like the rhodo blooms!
This is actually my second black and white Reynolds Dress and so I am confident I will wear this a lot. I love the last one I made, too! I think this new one is a little bit fancier so I am looking forward to wearing it out to dinner or a future event.
This hack is so simple and yet so effective! I love how it looks and I am already dreaming of another dress and some fun summer tank tops, too! Let me know if you give this one a try.
You can grab Reynolds in our shop right now for 25% off!
