One of my favorite things about sewing is testing patterns–and then hacking said pattern that I tested. When I was selected to be a tester for my favorite pattern companies (Made for Mermaids/M4M and Patterns for Pirates/P4P) I was so.frickin.excited. As a plus-sized seamstress, trying to find patterns that were made with my curves in mind was near impossible. Sure, I could always just figure out the calculations on how to make them bigger but even that’s hard. And yes, I could always lose weight but let’s be real: that’s even harder! But my girls Megan and Judy always look out with these patterns that I always end up feeling beautiful in!
The Mama Cassie
One of the fashion trends I’m fully committed to this season is the off-the-shoulder look. I was previously hacking patterns to get the off-the-shoulder look that I wanted but when the call for testers went out for this pattern and the designer tagged me in it, I knew I had to be part of it. Mama Cassie was designed by Catherine Muzzatti–one of the designers for M4M and one my virtual sewing besties.
The Options
Mama Cassie comes with the off-the-shoulder and cold-shoulder options. I’ll be making one of the cold-shoulder options soon enough.
Sleeves:Ā Short, 3/4, and long–all hemmed.
Length: Both straight and high-low versions of a maxi, mini, and peplum.
I was assigned the short sleeve mini dress with the off-the-shoulder bodice (because Catherine is bae and knows my style!). I also did a high-low peplum and a crop top. Yes, chubby girls rock crop tops!
My Mama Cassie Hack
I’m a WAHM who lives for comfort, ease, coupled with style. When I saw this bodice I knew that I had to pair it with the P4P Mama Bear Joggers to create a jumper that I could both lounge in as well as look cute while out and about. Basically my goal in life is to always feel like I’m wearing PJ’s while looking like a million bucks. Based on my friends’ feedback on Facebook, I would say that I succeeded.
The Hack
I should have taken pictures but I didn’t–I’ll keep this in mind next time. But it was super easy. I constructed both the Mama Cassie and the Mama Bear Joggers as instructed (ok, not really… I normally freestyle it based on what I feel like doing but following the directions totally works!). Oh, it’s important to note that due to my “lovely lady humps” in the back, I did add 2″ to the rise in the back. And then I attached the waistbands in the same way I would have if the pants were a skirt. I did have to ease the waistband of the bodice so that it could stretch and fit the waistband of the pants. And then boom! It was done!
