Lilah Top & Dress;  Maxi Hack!

It is always a pleasure to share posts with like-minded people.  Today I give you our first Guest Post: Lilah Top & Dress;  Maxi Hack! by the amazing Liesel.  I love and admire Liesel work! So when she suggested a maxi hack during Lilah Top & Dress testing, I was so thrilled. I knew this will be amazing!

Okay now I am going to turn the post over to Liesel.

Hi I am Liesel from ItsLiesel. I’m absolutely in love with the design of the new Lilah Top & Dress pattern! I love the lines of the racerback, and the fullness of the skirt. It fits exceptionally well too. I knew right away I wanted to make a maxi version of this pattern. My girls both love long skirts and dresses, they feel extra fancy, and I thought this style would look perfect as a maxi dress! I used some double brushed poly from So Sew English with vertical stripes. 

Since I had already made another version, I measured from the bottom of the bodice to the top of her feet, to make a custom length for the skirt.  The weight of the maxi will pull the bodice and skirt down a little, so if you’re using your own measurements, don’t measure all the way to the floor.

What you need to do:

If you’re measuring yourself, remember to account for the seam allowance at the top  where it will attach to the bodice, and the hem allowance. I second guessed my measurements, since my daughter had gone to bed when I was actually sewing, and cut it 2” longer than I had measured, and sure enough, I had to hem it 2,” but I know I can take out the hem when she grows and it will fit a little longer.

I love her face expression here 😉

Or you can use the estimated lengths provided below to cut your skirt if you don’t have access to your model, or just want to sew without stopping :). These measurements included seam and hem allowance. 

Remember the width measurements given here are for full skirt! I decided to use half of the width of my fabric for the width of the skirt pieces. This helps to save some fabric, and since the maxi is longer and heavier, less width helps not weigh the dress down. My fabric was 60” wide. You can decide how full you want your skirt to be by leaving the width as it is or taking out some! It’s up to you :).

Adding clear elastic

Don’t forget to sew in the clear elastic. It’s a quick step that really helps your bodice hold it’s shape. I pick up 5 or 10 yards at a time at my local knit store, it’s really inexpensive, and it’s good to have on hand for projects like this. There are many ways to add the clear elastic to your seam line. Check Mgeni’s method here.

What I did here was to sew the elastic in the bodice/lining before attaching the skirt. Do not stretch your elastic. it needs to be 1:1 ration with the width of the bodice/lining.

Here is how it looks like after sewing the elastic with stretch stitch.

Now construct your dress as per the Lilah Top & Dress tutorial! Nothing will change, except that your skirt will be longer.

Back View

How gorgeous is the back!

Side View

Closer look of the back!

Front View

I hope you love this version as much as I do! It will be perfect all summer long, and looks equally perfect on vacation at the beach, or for a recital, or a party!

About The Author

Liesel enjoys thrifting, cold coffee, and sewing. She homeschools her four children when she’s not creating new clothes! Her sewing ventures are shared at ItsLiesel.

Happy sewing xx

If you haven’t gotten your copy yet, you can find it here!

Would you like to growth hacking & guest post for us?! We would love to. Please contact us and we will be happy to add your post and hack using our patterns in our blog.