I am not someone that does a lot of hacks. I tend to stick to instructions very closely because I like zoning out when I’m working on a project, but some hacks are just too good to ignore. With energy and inspiration aligning, I finally made the dress that’s been on my mind for years and it turned out just as wonderful as I’d hoped.

Since I’ve held off on purchasing a lot of new fabric, I try to come back to my stash between commitments and this double gauze fabric from Birch Organic Fabric had me stumped. I originally purchased it from a destash and it was a lot babier blue than I thought it’d be. It’s been sitting around as a regretful purchase for awhile now, but inspiration struck one day and I realized it would be perfect for the dress I’ve had in my head.

The Ogden Cami pattern by True Bias is a very popular staple among the Instagram sewing community and there are a zillion beautiful hacks out there. I’ve had several saved for years, but a tiered gathered skirt version with tied straps has been at the top of my list . If I was going to attempt any hack, I knew this was the one to make.

For the tie straps, I followed the tutorial from Holly from HollyDollyDarling on the True Bias blog and cut 4 straps twice the length of the original. With this double gauze, it was a pain to sew and turn the fabric so I had to make due with tucking and topstitching the ends instead. It wasn’t the most elegant solution, but it isn’t actually all that noticeable if you didn’t know about it.

For the bodice of the dress, I made a size 0 based off my bust measurement and cut it roughly 7 inches from the top of the center front fold. I made the top just as it was described in the pattern except I added the tiered skirt.

For the gathered tiered skirt, this is where it got trickier for me. I only had 3 yards of this fabric so I knew I’d have to be careful in my math to make sure I had enough. I decided the length of the gathers using the measurement of the bottom of the bodice as a starting point. From there, I tried to make each tier roughly 1.5 times bigger than the last. The bottom tier has a slightly higher ratio of gathering than the others, but I was so done with trying to make it all fit that I used every inch of fabric I could rather than waste it.

Finished measurements of each tier. (The 2nd and 3rd tiers were pieced together for enough length):

• 48 inches x 10 inches
• 70 inches x 11 inches
• 119 inches x 10 inches

Each tier was gathered and attached to the next tier. Once the entire skirt was assembled, it was attached to the bodice and hemmed. All seams were finished with a serger.

The math of this make was probably the most frustrating part while the gathering was the most time consuming, but it was all worth it to see the final result match the image I had in my head. I’m glad I finally sat down to do this hack and can’t wait to wear it more once summer and spring hit.

Have you made the Ogden Cami pattern yet? What are your favorite hacks for it? If you make your own version and found these measurements helpful, let me know! I’d love to see your version.