I've always loved the look of rompers, but never felt like I could pull them off. I have some mom tummy insecurities and do all I can to make sure it's hidden. When Sonia shared the new Hollywood I went to pinterest to get some inspiration. I ran across so many cute separates I decided I wanted to give them a try. I feel so confident in them and still get that fun look that Sonia created!
For this first hack I kept the romper how it was in the pattern. The skirt however is removable using the sash as the waist band. For mine I didn't want to have any seams so I doubled the width of the skirt pattern. To do this you have a couple of options, you can measure the skirt waist and bottom and extend that length out double using a curved ruler to keep the shape. Example: the waist originally measures 15" (on the fold), you'll extend the waist out to be a total of 30". Another option is to grab blank paper and trace the skirt pattern, cut out and butt against the already printed pattern piece. Tape both pieces together and you're ready to cut! Make sure you cut it on the fold. You'll also cut out your sash piece on the fold instead of two mirror images. Follow the tutorial instructions to sew the sash.
You can hem the skirt as you wish. Now we're going to attach the sash to the skirt. Find the center of your skirt top and center of your sash piece.
Now join the two center pieces together placing the seam of the sash against the edge of the skirt. Now you're going to clip the remainder of the sash to the skirt not giving the sash any stretch.
Serge the two pieces together and you're done!
Read more below for the crop top separates hack :-)
Crop top Hollywood
For this next hack all the pattern pieces are cut just as they are in the tutorial. You'll just need to cut out a waist band for your bottoms (I'll go over that below) . I will note that to get the crop look I cut the pattern without adding any length like I typically need to do. The same goes for the shorts.
For the top you'll assemble just as the tutorial states, and just hem the bottom 1". Now we are going to figure out our waist band measurement. How I did this was measure the top portion of my skirt and multiply that by .85.
My measurement for my skirt waist is 32.5" so that makes my measurement for my waist band 27.62". I chose to cut my waist band on the fold so I divided that number in half to give me my fold measurement. I cut my waistband 5" h x 13.81" on the fold.
Sew the short sides of your waist band together using the same 1/4" seam allowance. Then you'll fold it in half wrong sides together to attach to the bottoms.
I chose to overlap my skirt some. I hemmed the skirt openings under with 1/2" seam allowance. After doing so I used wash away wonder tape to hold my overlap in place by 1". (I did give the skirt some stretch to overlap.)
Now you'll baste your shorts and skirt together. Then you just need to find the quarter points of your waist band and bottoms. Match the two together and sew. You'll need to stretch the waistband to fit the bottoms. Now you have a fun two piece Hollywood set!
I can't wait to see all of your fun makes!
Afton