Gathered Romper Hack

Posted on February 22, 2019 by Sewing-4-Sanity

C2078B49-827B-4F53-9EC4-6BB94E6C9153 I am a serial pattern hacker. I get a pattern and I see it’s untapped potential! Here’s a little hack that works well with a few rompers I have…more specifically, these are Ellie & Mac Beatbox Romper and the Ellie & Mac Good Baby Romper. I used fabric from Snowy Owl Custom Fabric and Christy’s Cute Designs.

The best news…it’s really easy!

Here’s what I did:

Cut a curved shape out of the bodice. I found that depending on the size, a couple inches below the armscye is a good cut line. Here’s what mine looks like:
You want to cut one of those out on the fold, adding in a seam allowance where you made the cut.
For the bottom part, to get the gathered effect, you want to create a gradual curve starting from about even with the crotch curve out to a point that is approximately 2x the width of the pattern piece. Make sure you add a seam allowance to this side too! Here’s a visual of mine:
Run a gathering stitch and gather the bottom piece so that it is the same width as the bodice piece.
Next, if you like piping, cut a piece of piping the width of the top of the bodice piece ( or a little bit longer to give yourself some room for error 🙂 ). I made mine 1″ wide to get the look here:default
Fold the piping piece wrong sides together with the raw ends matching up, and sandwich it between the bodice piece and the bottom gathered part (bodice and bottom should be right sides facing).
Sew them all together!
For a more professional finish, press and topstitch. Trim any excess so that it matches the original pattern piece. Then you’re ready to treat it just like the normal romper piece and follow the rest of the pattern instructions!
Here’s my finished product 🙂