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Remake a Dress Pattern into a Button-Up Bralette | Style Revive Season 3, Episode 4

Style Revive Bralette Cover
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|Sponsored| Bralettes are an essential summer wardrobe piece, according to all the trend reports—and we love them! It’s hard to find good bralette sewing patterns, so why not remake one of your existing patterns into a bralette? Have a favorite fitting top or dress? Just crop it and add a button-up closure to easily get in and out of your new-look bralette.

Just because the hemline is cropped doesn’t mean the sleeves need to be—trending bralettes have full sleeves, ruffles, buttons and more! There can be a lot of style packed into a small garment, including embroidery!

In this episode of Style Revive, I refashion the Josie Sundress pattern by Christine Haynes to be a button-up, embroidered bralette with flutter sleeves. Watch to get inspired, and never look at your dress patterns the same way again! 


If you’d like to watch the whole series on YouTube (and watch Seasons 1 + 2 while you’re at it) subscribe to the Sew Daily Network YouTube channel. We’ll be releasing episodes every Tuesday into the first week of July!

About the Pattern: Josie Sundress

The original pattern is sleeveless, but you can easily draft a fitting circle to stitch onto the armhole that creates the most beautiful and flirty sleeve shape.

Sketches of the Josie Sundress by Christina Haynes
Josie Sundress pattern by Christine Haynes

Yes, bralettes are back with a vengeance this year, a la 1990, and this season every style goes: fifties pinup, minimalist, embellished, and more. Whatever your aesthetic is, you can make a bralette to suit your wardrobe. As discussed on Episode 58 of Sew & Tell, the new-look bralette trend was one of my favorites. Check out the full trend report here.

Bralette Tutorial

In the video, I got as far as fitting the bralette to my body before finishing and installing the facing and buttonholes. Read on to see the last few steps and see how I complete the most epic bralette I own . . .

Style Revive Bralette Tutorial showing fusing the interfacing to the facing pieces

Once the neckline shape is confirmed, fuse interfacing to the wrong side of the front and back facing pieces. 

Style Revive Bralette Tutorial showing pinning the shoulder seams of the shoulder facings together

Pin and stitch the shoulder seams of the facing pieces, right sides together. 

Style Revive Bralette Tutorial showing pressing the facing allowances open

Press allowances open. 

Style Revive Bralette Tutorial showing finishing the outer edges of the facing with a serger

Finish the outer edges of the facing with a serger, or use a zig-zag stitch on your regular sewing machine. 

Style Revive Bralette Tutorial showing pinning the facing to the neckline

Pin the facing to the bralette’s neckline, right sides together, matching the shoulder seams. 

Style Revive Bralette Tutorial showing where to pin the facing

Make sure to peel back the front bands to stitch the facing just to the bralette. 

Style Revive Bralette Tutorial showing sewing the facing to the bralette neckline

Starting at one of the fronts, stitch together, pivoting at the corners. 

Style Revive Bralette Tutorial showing trimming the allowance of the facing

Trim allowances and clip into the corners. 

Style Revive Bralette Tutorial showing understitching on the facing

Press facing and understitch on the facing side, 1/8” in from the seam.

Adding the Placket Bands

Now it’s time to finish the front edge with the placket bands.

Style Revive Bralette Tutorial showing marketing the placket band with the neckline seam

First flip down the facing and clip into the band where the neckline seam is to mark the placement. 

Style Revive Bralette Tutorial showing the placket band with a pin at the neckline placement

Fold the top of the band pieces right sides together and pin at marking.  

Style Revive Bralette Tutorial showing stitching the placket band at the neckline

Stitch starting at the marking to the fold. Clip and flip to the right side. 

Style Revive Bralette Tutorial showing how to stitch the facing and placket band together

At the front, flip the facing up and matching the top of the band to the facing seam. Fold facing back over band and stitch to close seam. 

Repeat for both front edges. 

Style Revive Bralette Tutorial showing clipping the corner

Clip into the corner and flip to the right side. 

Bodice of the Style Revive Bralette

The two front edges will be finished with the bands now! 

Style Revive Bralette Tutorial showing topstitching the dart intakes

Topstitch around the front bands and continue to topstitch the dart intakes.

Finishing the Bralette Hem: Adding Elastic

Also topstitch the hem band attachment seam.

Style Revive Bralette with elastic

If the band is slightly gaping, elastic can gather it in nicely while also making it comfortable to wear. Wrap a piece of elastic around your underbust to a comfortable circumference and cut with some allowance on either side.  

Style Revive Bralette Tutorial showing pinning the elastic in place

The hem band can be opened and the elastic threaded through. Alternatively, since the bralette has so much topstitching, the elastic can be stretched and sewn right to the wrong side of the hem band, creating a nice look.  

Half the elastic and pin to center front and center back for an even stretch. 

Style Revive Bralette Tutorial showing sewing the elastic in place

Stretch the elastic as you sew, stitching on both sides of the elastic. 

Shirring could also be added here instead of one wide piece of elastic.

Style Revive Bralette with the elastic in place

View from the right side!

Adding Sleeves: Draft-Your-Own Circle Sleeves

Now it’s time for the sleeves. I’ll show you how to draft your own circular sleeves and set them in.

Style Revive Bralette Tutorial showing measuring the armhole opening

With the bralette laying flat on the table, measure the armhole opening from underarm point to shoulder point. Mine is about 9¼”.  

Doing the math for a circle sleeve

To do the circle sleeve measurement, first double the armhole measurement to get the entire front and back armhole. 

Divide your entire armhole measurement by 6.28. That is your radius for the circle. Mine equaled 2.9, so I rounded it up to 3”. 

Sketching the radius of a circle sleeve

Starting with two perpendicular lines on a piece of paper, draw a circle with your radius amount. 

Sketching the circle sleeve

From the radius, draw a parallel circle to create your desired sleeve length. I used 8”. Also add ½” seam allowance to the inner circle.  

Cutting out the circle sleeve for the Style Revive Bralette

Cut out two sleeve pieces on the fold. 

Style Revive Bralette Tutorial showing pinning the circle sleeve to the armhole

There is no sleeve seam! Just pin the inner circle to the right side of the bralette armhole. 

Style Revive Bralette Tutorial showing sewing the sleeve to the bralette
Attaching the circle sleeve with the HUSQVARNA® VIKING® EPIC™ 95Q machine

Stitch together at the seam line. 

Style Revive Bralette Tutorial showing pressing the outer edge of the sleeve

Finish the outer edge of the sleeve and press to the wrong side. 

Style Revive Bralette Tutorial showing pressing the sleeve hem to cover the serged edge

Press once more to the wrong side. 

Style Revive Bralette Tutorial showing topstitching the sleeve hem

Topstitch the sleeve hem. 

Style Revive Bralette with sleeves, ready for buttons

Repeat sleeve process for other side.

Finishing the Buttonband

Now it’s ready for the fun part . . . buttons! 

Choosing buttons to match the project

What I love about adding embroidery is the other colorway options it gives for notions like buttons. I was going back and fourth between matching the embroidery or the fabric; of course the green ones won. 

Style Revive Bralette Tutorial showing installing buttons and buttonholes

Mark and install about 3 buttons on the band, evenly spaced. If you use smaller buttons, you will need to place more than if you’re using larger ones.  

Style Revive Bralette Tutorial showing adding velcro to close the hem

Since the bottom of the band on the hem has elastic, I stitched on a small square of Velcro and just stitched a button to the right side. You could also install a snap. 

Completed Style Revive Bralette

Bralette complete! All that was left to do was hand tack the facings to the shoulder seam allowance and see what I could wear it with in my wardrobe. 

Meg modeling her Style Revive buttoned bralette

This bralette came out better than I ever could have imagined.  

Two views of Meg modeling the Style Revive bralette

What I love about bralettes is their ability to pair so well with high-waisted pants. Here I’m wearing it with my green linen Pomona Pants by Anna Allen Clothing. 

Meg showing off the button band on her Style Revive bralette

The sleeves provide that perfect extra coverage that I love, and all the drape is amazing to contrast the more structured bodice. For a bralette like this, a fabric with drape and two good sides works best. My version is in this lovely purple linen that is deadstock from FABSCRAP. I’m not a huge fan of purple, but I’m a big linen fan; with the addition of embroidery and buttons, it’s perfectly me. 

Make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to never miss an episode. This is the last episode of this season of Style Revive, but a new season will be coming sooon!

Happy Sewing! 
Meg

Thank You to our Sponsor:

This series is brought to you by our wonderful sponsor, whose products were used in the creation of Style Revive.

Husqvarna Viking

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