Pattern hack alert: meet Ninah from Ninaah Bulles and her #Norma dress

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Creating unique pieces to share on your blog or Instagram account to inspire others – the sew & social media combo is all the rage. And since the number of sewist-bloggers around the world is on the rise, Fibre Mood regularly presents a Sewista who has taken a Fibre Mood pattern and come up with a unique pattern hack. We present Ninah from Ninaah Bulles and her #Norma pattern hack. Find out more about her beautiful creation here!

Ninah

My name is Ninah, I'm 32 years old and I'm a digital media organiser as well as a body-positive lifestyle blogger since 2013 at Ninaah Bulles. You can also find me on Instagram under the same name: @ninaahbulles. As a child, I always dreamt of sewing my own clothes, and I started doing so seven years ago. I started to explore the world of sewing, doing what I would call a bit of DIY, and following videos on YouTube. I am entirely self-taught. It has become an increasingly important thing in my life. I recognised myself less and less in store-bought clothes. In January 2020, I made the decision to sew all my clothes, or almost. In almost a year, I have really improved. I have also met some awesome seamstress friends, with whom I have created a small collective, with Instagram playing a role too. We help and support each other in our daily sewing projects. 

I do a lot of hacking, most of my creations and the patterns I make are hacks. In fact, I only make a pattern as it is intended when I want to learn new techniques or when I test it for a designer. 

Incidentally, this was not my first Norma hack, I had already hacked it into a long sleeve blouse with a gathered back.

I love hacks because they make it possible to create a personal and unique piece of clothing. A single pattern offers thousands of possibilities. It’s an absolutely brilliant playground, where I can really let my creativity go wild. I really express myself through my clothes. I can show who I am from the inside out.
I have lots of sewing projects, I'm non-stop! At the moment, my priority is to finish my Christmas presents, which this year will all be hand-sewn gifts. Next, I want to make some flannel pyjamas for Christmas Eve, which will fit this year's pyjama party theme. The pyjama top will definitely be a hack of the Élisa pattern, which I love, so that's a hack in the planning.

Norma was my favourite pattern this spring, just as it was for many others I think. My friend Alice has also starting sewing and we decided to do the same hack. Looking at the end result, we started our transformations at the same point, but the end result is quite different. This is the magic of sewing and hacking – depending on the fabric, lengths, and finishes chosen, the look changes and remains unique.  

I have wanted to do a Norma x Mira hack since May and it was the perfect opportunity to get started, as we considered the other changes together. As happens quite often, we had the same inspiration.  

A square collar and the front button tab extending down the entire length of the dress. A layered boho skirt inspired by Mira. And to finish, long sleeves that end with a small buttoned cuff.

A guide to my Norma pattern hack

 

I've drawn a small diagram of how to make the changes on the pattern at the collar, which I raised 10 cm to create a square collar. 

For the skirt, I suggest you use the Mira skirt pattern as a base. You have to separate the front part of the skirt in two and add a 5 cm iron-on strip on the two open front sides of the skirt so that you can make the button tab later. 

To make the button tab extend down the front of the dress, I removed the facing. Close the collar on the bias, and add 5 cm on the front part of the Norma pattern, at the level of the button tab. I added a 5-cm iron-on strip.

For the sleeves, I lengthened them so that they reached my wrist. I have very long arms so I had to add 30 cm to the original pattern. 

Add the number of cm that corresponds to the length of your arm. Next, I adjusted the size of the cuff that closes the sleeve to the size of my wrists, adding 3 cm of extra room. 

I suggest you take a look at the diagrams to understand how I closed the sleeves as it's a little hard to explain. 

Once the top and the skirt are formed, I assembled them and created a button tab. On the reverse side, make an initial 2-cm fold all along the iron-on band, which needs to be ironed on each side of the garment. Next, iron and stitch a second 3-cm fold all the way across the front of each side to form our button tab. All that remains is to make the buttonholes, sew on the buttons and you're done! 

Interested in making your own Norma? Buy the pattern here!

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