We’ve written a new pattern hack for The Trapeze, adding a full, double layered gathered skirt with a ribbon tie back. The result is playful and fun and the perfect canvas for a bright or embellished fabric. We chose our new Flame Tumbled Cotton Poplin (and the Alma cotton voile for lining). Because poplin is a tightly woven cloth and quite crispy it gives the dress a sculptural look. If you choose something softer like an Indian cotton it will have a softer silhouette. The second dress is made from our Libra Spot Indian Cotton.

We recommend using woven cottons (2-4.3oz) for this make, to achieve the crisp finish on the visible gather detail. Some suggestions would be: Tumbled cotton poplin, block print cotton, hemp/cotton blend, fine Indian hand weaves, Japanese cotton poplin and triple wash.

We bagged our bodice out with self fabric, but used a light cotton voile/muslin for the skirt lining.

Depending on the fabric you choose, there are two options for the skirt volume – gathered x 3 for finer cottons (up to 3oz) which gives a nice full skirt, or gathered x 2 for more sculptural cottons (up to 4.3oz) like our tumbled cotton poplin. Be aware that there is a lot of gathering to the skirt and if you choose a denser fabric then it will be harder to gather neatly which is why we have created the 2 x gather version.

You'll need the The Trapeze pattern and you can download the instructions here.