When Alexandra (@stitchedtrails on Instagram) made a beautiful dress hack of the Valentina dress, I knew I had to ask her if she wanted to make a blog post about it so you and I can make one too! She agreed and below she will guide you through the process. If you make this hack, tag her too so she get to see your beautiful dress!
SHOP THE VALENTINA DRESS
Today I’m sharing how I modified the Valentina pattern to recreate the beautiful silhouette of a vintage-inspired dress I fell in love with. This hack adds a long, narrow center front panel and shifts the gathering to the sides, transforming the overall shape of the dress into something more structured down the front—with dramatic, romantic fullness on the sides.
The look
Instead of gathering fabric evenly across the front, this modification creates a slim, ungathered panel that runs from neckline to hem at center front. The result is a new silhouette: sleek and structured through the center, with bold gathers that add movement and volume at the sides.
WHAT YOU'LL NEED
- Your printed Valentina dress pattern pieces (If you use a projector, you can trace edits onto paper or modify digitally using a free program like Inkscape)
- Pattern paper or tissue
- Scissors
- Ruler
- Pencil
THE MODIFICATION PROCESS
STEP 1: PREP YOUR ORIGINAL PATTERN PIECES
Start with the original Gathered Skirt Front and Center Front Bodice pieces from the Valentina pattern.
STEP 2: EXTEND THE CENTER FRONT BODICE
Extend your Center Front Bodice piece straight down to the hem, creating a full-length panel. This piece will remain flat and ungathered.
Grainline tip: The original pattern cuts the bodice on-grain and the skirt on the bias. I’ve tried both and prefer the entire panel cut on the bias for more drape, but the difference is subtle.
STEP 3: SPLIT THE GATHERED SKIRT FRONT
Using the center front line as a guide, cut the Gathered Skirt Front piece vertically down the middle to create two mirrored skirt panels.
STEP 4: ADJUST THE SKIRT PANEL WIDTHS
Trim each new skirt panel by the width of your extended Center Front Bodice piece. This keeps the original total width of the skirt intact.
The pink piece is your new full-length bodice panel. The tan pieces are your two adjusted skirt fronts. (Never claimed to be an artist!)
STEP 5: CUT LAYOUT NOTES
I used just under 4 yards of 55” wide fabric.
You’ll need to cut:
- 1 × extended center front panel from main fabric
- 1 × original center front bodice from lining fabric (add 1 cm at the bottom for hemming the lining)
- 4 x straps if doing tie straps
- 2 x elastic panel (cut in half) if doing invisible zipper insert
(See cut layout photo below.)
OPTIONAL MODIFICATIONS
STEP 6: ADD AN INVISIBLE ZIPPER TO THE ELASTIC PANEL
The original Valentina has an elastic back panel. For easier on/off (as in the dress that inspired this hack), you can add an invisible zipper:
- Cut the elastic panel piece vertically in half.
- Add 0.5 cm seam allowance to the new cut edges.
- Insert an invisible zipper between the completed halves after sewing the elastic channels (see Step 11).
STEP 7: SWAP FOR TIE STRAPS
For a softer look, replace the ring-and-slider straps with tie straps:
- Cut 4 strap pieces instead of 2.
- Sew and attach them using the original strap construction method—just skip the hardware.
ASSEMBLY INSTRUCTIONS
STEP 8: JOIN BODICE PIECES
Sew the Side Front Bodice pieces to your new Center Front Bodice panel. Stop 1 cm before the bottom edge to leave room for attaching the gathered skirt.
STEP 9: HEM THE BODICE LINING
Take the Center Bodice Lining piece and double-fold the bottom edge by 0.5 cm twice. Press and topstitch to finish.
STEP 10: ATTACH STRAPS
If using tie straps, attach them at the same placement as the original. Then continue following the Valentina instructions for lining, understitching, and bodice assembly.
STEP 11: FINISH ELASTIC PANEL + INSERT ZIPPER
- Complete each elastic section: Insert the elastic into each half-panel following the original instructions (but with the elastic pieces cut in half, so you have 10 pieces, not 5)
- Install the zipper: Place a 20cm (8″) invisible zipper between the two completed elastic panel sections. Follow usual steps for installing.
- Finish construction: Attach the completed elastic panel assembly to the bodice as normal
STEP 12: ASSEMBLE AND ATTACH THE SKIRT
- Sew skirt side seams: Attach your two front skirt panels to the back at the side seams following instructions.
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Gather the side pieces first: Follow the original instructions to gather each side skirt and back piece at the waist where it will attach to the bodice area of your center panel.
- One of my favorite tricks for gathering fabric—especially when working with long seams or slippery fabric—is using dental floss. It’s so much easier and more reliable than traditional gathering threads, which can snap at the worst moment.
- To do this, I set my machine to a wide zigzag stitch and lay a length of dental floss along the area where I want to gather. Then, I sew a zigzag stitch right over the floss, being careful not to catch the floss in the stitching itself. Once that’s done, I gently pull the ends of the dental floss to gather the fabric. It glides through easily and holds strong without breaking, making it perfect for heavier fabrics or tighter gathers.
- You can see it in the photo below—the white line running through the fabric is the dental floss. When the gathers are sewn in place, I simply slide the floss out, and that’s it!
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Attach skirt to bodice:
- Start at one side of the center front bodice and pin/gather one skirt panel in place.
- Repeat on the other side and back panel.
- Stitch the gathered skirt to the bodice between the side front seams.
Sew front seams: Start stitching where you left off when sewing the center bodice piece to the side bodice piece and stitch down to the hem line.
Attach lining to waist seam: Attach the raw lining edges to the waist seam. Then follow instructions for finishing that seam (i.e. with lace binding).
Hem: Let your dress hang for 24 hours before hemming to allow for any bias stretch.
I hope you enjoy this hack! If you end up sharing it on Instagram, please tag me (@michelledesignco) and Alexandra (@stitchedtrails), we can't wait to see your Valentina dress hack!