My friend, Anshu, introduced me to Little Lizard King just about the same time my daughter asked for a wrap dress/skirt. I found just the right patterns in LLK’s vast collection! I made this outfit from an old skirt from my dancing days.
The pattern
Byron Bay is a wrap skirt and peplum blouse, with or without ruffles, made for woven fabrics. There is another view of a gathered skirt without the wrap option.
This time, I made the curved ruffle hem view.
Barcelona is a swing top and dress made for woven fabrics. It comes in top, knee, and maxi lengths. Its sleeveless with straps, complete with facings.
I didn’t want to print the different views so I printed the maxi view and cut the length I wanted for a top. I also decided to do a lining instead of facing because of the see through fabric I was using.
The fabric
Back when I was dancing, I had a stage skirt that was bright red, with black and gold trim. Now that my dancing days are over, I took it apart and used it as fabric for both the skirt and blouse. It is chiffon and very transparent; so I had to find lining fabric.
In my upcycling fabric, I found an old lehengha that was well worn and loved by my sister when she was younger. So great to give it another life as the lining of the skirt. There were some torn sections so I had to cut around it, but it was worth it.
There wasn’t enough for the top, so I used some red cotton I already had.
sizing & modifications
Byron Bay:
- Made the size 6 skirt but changed the elastic according to her waist.
- Used French seams for the chiffon
- Lining didn’t follow the wrap – instead is a short gathered skirt to prevent any accidents when the wrap part separates (like below)
- Used my rolled hem on the serger for finishing the ruffles – lighter this way
- The waistband area was very bulky with all the gathered fabric so I bound it with bias binding – nice clean finish.
Barcelona:
- Made a size 4 with size 6 height
- Instead of a facing, made a lining by cutting out two of each piece.
- Sewed the straps with 3/8″ seam allowance to give wider straps
- Added ruffle on top of the straps
- Something I will do in the future: add a button or zip. It’s a bit tight to get on and off
Lilli loves her new outfit so much she wore it to picture day for school AND did a dance performance for the school’s virtual talent show. I mean..LOOK at that twirl!
It’s versatile too – pairing with other tops or bottoms.
Some links contained in this post may be affiliate links, which means I get a small commission if you purchase through these links and helps keep this site running. I was provided with the pattern to test it out, but all opinions are my own
Links and Patterns
Links and patterns mentioned in this post are listed below for your convenience.