I hope you’re already in our Facebook group so you don’t miss any of our bombshell testers in their new Sage dresses – they all brought the heat for real. Sage is our newest release at Made for Mermaids, and it’s the PERFECT dress for summer; whether you’re wearing Sage for a girls’ night out, or lounging poolside, it’s the comfiest t-shirt dress you didn’t even know you needed!
Sage is a knit dress that is semi-fitted at the bust and loose through the waist and hips. It features split hem dress, midi, and maxi lengths. Sage is perfect for year-round wear with sleeveless, short, 3/4, and long sleeves. The women’s includes a high school, low scoop, and low v neckline. There are several hemlines, too: curved tunic (for girls), curved midi, straight midi, curved maxi, and straight maxi! You can also choose a fun color blocked option in maxi length, or use one of the hacks below for color blocking other lengths! Optional pockets are also included, because we know how ya’ll like to roll 😉 Choose from multiple split hem marks, too – from high to low! And, if all that wasn’t enough, we’ve got several hacks just for you. Which one are you most excited to try out first?!?
Skirt Hack
The beautiful new Sage pattern is so great as a dress but if you are looking to add a bit more versatility, here is a simple hack to turn your Sage dress into a skirt. There are so many options for skirt looks, from side splits to color blocking, but here I chose to create this hack on the maxi length solid pattern piece with a curved hem and used the second lowest slit option.
Step 1: Take your front pattern piece and draw a line across the pattern at the waist location indicated on the pattern piece. Add 1/2″ above the line and draw a new cut line for your skirt. Cut or fold your pattern at the new cut line to create your skirt pattern piece. Repeat on the back piece using the same method.
Step 2: Using your new pattern pieces, cut a skirt front and back piece.
Step 3: Cut a waistband. You may use the waistband measurements from another Made for Mermaids pattern for your desired waistband height and width- I chose to use the Women’s Lexi Waistband and elastic measurements for this pattern hack.
Step 4: Sew your skirt side seams and hem per the pattern. Sew your waistband right sides together along the short end. You should now have a tube.
Step 5: If you prefer elastic, cut elastic for your waist measurement (I used the suggested lengths in the Lexi Pattern) and sew together in a loop, overlapping the elastic by 1/2″. Slip the elastic inside the waistband if using and mark both the waistband and skirt at quarter points.
Step 6: With the wrong side of the skirt out, insert your waistband piece and match raw edges. Use the marked quarter points to match up the waistband and skirt and pin together.
You will need to stretch the waistband only (not the skirt) while sewing and sew together using a stretch stitch and 1/2″ seam allowance. Finish your raw edge and press the seam allowance down. That’s it – your skirt hack is all done! -Shannon
Alternatively, you could also create an elastic casing. I taped together the middle and bottom color block pieces to create the skirt pattern for youth sizes. Cut 2 skirt pieces.
Sew the side seams together, stopping at your desired slit length. You can choose a slit length, or use the no slit hack. I used the midi length to achieve this look.
Fold the top of the skirt over, 1 1/4″ toward the wrong side, to create the elastic casing for the waist band. Insert 1″ elastic and close the casing.
Hem the bottom, and you’re done! You’re now finished with your Sage skirt hack! Hope this was easy and fun for you. I can’t wait to see photos! Love, Laura and Inri
Colorblocked Mini Hack
I love the Sage colorblocked maxi option so much, I wanted to add colorblocking to the other lengths too. I’ll be showing this hack with the mini dress length but you can use the same process with the curved dress and midi lengths, too.
For this hack, you will need the main dress front and back pieces (in the length you will be hacking) as well as the maxi colorblock top front and back pieces. Start by stacking the maxi top color block piece onto the full main front pattern piece. Trace this line onto the main piece. You will use the top maxi color block piece to cut your top color block fabric later. Now let’s decide where the middle and lower color block lines should be.
We will be working with the main front pattern piece now. Start by marking 1/2″ above the line you’ve just drawn, along the fold. This will be the new cut line for the middle piece we will cut in a bit. Mark 1/2″ up from the hem too. Using your clear ruler or measuring tape, measure the distance between the two marks. For my size blue mini dress, that was 18″. Divide this number by 2 to create the two color block sections. For my mini dress, that was 9″, which I then added the 1/2″ hem allowance back to. I found it easiest to measure from the hem, so mark 9.5″ up from the hem and draw your new color block line (designated in green).
Now the part that can get a bit confusing is adding in the seam allowance for the new pieces. I make sure to label each line I draw. Since Sage has a 1/2″ seam allowance, draw lines 1/2″ above and below the new color block line. The upper line will be the cut line for the lower pattern piece. The lower line will be the cut line for the middle pattern piece.
To replicate the colorblocking on the back main piece, I laid the front piece overlapping the back piece then slid it over a bit. Mark all the lines along the fold edge then use your straight ruler to create and label the lines.
At this point, you can trace and separate the new middle and lower color block pieces. I prefer to just fold my pattern pieces. Using the top maxi color block piece and the newly created middle and lower pieces, cut all of your fabric out. Follow the tutorial for the maxi color block to complete your Sage.
Have fun with mixing and matching fabrics to come up with a unique combination. I was even able to make this version with scraps!
~Katie
No Split Hack
Sage is such an easy, relaxed style to wear. Sewing up the side seams to close the splits is a super cute hack to give versatility to this pattern.
Follow the steps of the pattern to create the dress and when you get to sewing up the side seams, simply sew all the way down to the bottom hem and then fold up and hem the dress. You can apply this to all lengths of the dresses.
I also added a cute waist tie to cinch the dress in and add a nice detail. I simply cut a strip of knit fabric stretch-wise 1″x width of fabric. I stitched it right sides together along the length, with a 3/8″ seam allowance and stretch stitch, and used a loop turner to turn it right side out. I tied some knots on the end. Make sure you take care turning the tie right side out, so you don’t pop the stitches! I also colour blocked the sleeves because I didn’t have enough fabric for a full long sleeve. So many easy ways to create new looks!
Happy Sewing!
Katy xx
High Low Hack
Do you love the high low trend like we do?! The high low hem hack is incredibly easy to do! First, determine what length you want to do – your front hemline should be a higher hemline then your back hemline. For mine, I picked the dress length for the front and midi length for the back. Then, pick a split mark and mark your split mark as per the tutorial. Lastly, complete your dress as per the tutorial. Tada! Super easy and cute!
Solid Back Hack
Looking to add a little twist to your sage?? We all know the sage is already a super fast sew even with the color blocking but this solid back hack makes it even faster! You get the cute of the color block in the front with the quick ease of the solid back for a fun totally different look.
All you have to do is simply print and cut out pieces for the front color-blocked version, and then the back color-blocked version.
You’ll see it all together as directed in the pattern the solid and then the color blocking instructions. Then combine the two together at the shoulders and finish as directed. The best part- you don’t have to worry about lining up your color blocks on the side seam! Woohoo!
And there you have it- an adorable fun little sage with a twist! It’s perfect for short cuts or scraps of fabric that aren’t enough for two pieces.
Happy Sewing,
-Michelle
Hood Hack
Adding a hood to Sage is super easy and so cute! Jody added a hood to Avery using the hood from Darcey here. I used her post as a base to add the Darcey hood to Sage. Like her post mentions, you can either do a lined hood, which I will show you how to do, or a hemmed hood. Sage’s highest neckline turned out to be 2 inches lower than the neckline of Avery, so I modified the neckline by adding 2 inches.
You will need this front piece with the new raised neckline, your back piece, sleeves or armbands if you’re doing sleeveless, and your hood pieces (which will either be 1 set of mirrored pieces for the hemmed hood, or 2 sets of mirrored pieces for the lined hood option) *if you choose the hemmed hood be sure to reference the Avery hood hack post to see any modifications and steps Jody did for that.
Sew up your Sage per the tutorial, up until the point you would attach your neckband.
Take your main hood pieces and place them right sides together. Clip/pin along the long curved edges. Stitch using a 1/2 inch seam allowance.
Repeat with your hood lining pieces.
Keep one of your hoods wrong side out and turn the other right side out.
Put one inside the other so they are right sides together. Clip/pin together along the raw edges of the hood opening.
Stitch with a 1/2 inch seam allowance.
Turn your hood right side out, press your hood opening. Topstitch if desired.
Overlap the front edges of your hood 1/2 inch, clip together, and baste in place.
Place a clip at both the center front and the center back of your hood’s bottom raw edges. Take your Sage top and find the center of the front and the back and place a pin or clip.
Place your hood inside your Sage right sides together, lining up the raw edges of your hood to your neckline, matching center front clips and center back clips. Clip in place. Stitch your hood to your bodice using a 1/2 inch seam allowance. Bam! That’s it! Sage with a hood is super cute! -Stephanie
Off Shoulder Hack
Aaronica use two fronts to create this gorgeous off-shoulder look. We’re obsessed with all of it – the length, the tie dye, the off-shoulder – love it all!! Simply cut two fronts, and then assemble as your normally would! Easy peasy.
Florence did the same! She used the low neckline, and made two fronts. Such a fun look!
Want a different off-shoulder look? It’s so cute mashed with our Deanna pattern, too! Katie’s look is so, so fun. Use Deanna for the top portion of your dress, lining up the shoulders and armscyes as best you can with the shoulders/armscye of Sage. It’s a little tricky since they are different sleeve styles, so you may want to create a muslin first.
Chest Pocket Hack & Color Block Shirt Hack
The pocket hack is super easy – just grab the pocket from Tess! Or, you can always create your own pocket piece, too. 🙂
To get the color blocked top look, rather than a dress, Amy used the color blocked top bodice, then split the remaining portion of the top length in half. For size indigo, it ended up being roughly 8.5″ for each of the bottom two sections. Many color blocked shirts start a bit higher, but Amy wanted to keep the top bodice portion more true to the Sage design.
Which version are you hoping to sew up first?? I’ve GOT to get started on an animal print + striped color blocked maxi version!! Don’t forget to show off your sews over in our Facebook group. We can’t wait to see!
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