Have you checked out the fancy new Add-On for The Marina yet? This fun, open back, add-on is the perfect way to add a little extra flair to your Marina Tank! It's one of my favorite ways to show off all my super pretty under garments too, without feeling too exposed (or sometimes I wear a plain one to show off the open back instead). The Marina below is mini dress length (not adjusted for my 5' 2' height) in Zari DBP. I love wearing it with this black racerback sports bra or my red one. Along with the new Add-Oh, the original pattern also got an update: the pattern is opened up so you can cut flat or on the fold! Read all the way to the end of this post for an important announcement that is specific to projector users like me.
Now, if you've watched me for a while you know that I'm a sucker for a good hack, so after I'd made a couple un-altered Marinas with the Add-On I got to thinking about how I could fancy it up a little more. It didn't take long for me to decide what to do: make a single side slit maxi! And I knew just what fabric to use for it too: the 190 GSM Persimmon ABP. This is one of my favorite "everything" athletic bases and weights! It's not too heavy or stiff for things like tops and flowy dresses and it works great for bottoms too!
This is such a simple and fun hack, I can't wait to do it again: it is the perfect summertime maxi dress for me (and before the Marina originally came out I didn't even like maxis, so that's saying a lot). The only big precautions I needed to take was cutting out from the slit down: I hadn't decided which side I wanted the slit on yet. To overcome that dilemma I cut the front and bottom back pieces at the furthest out lines, combining the slit and simple skirt options together. I used pins to mark lines from the pattern while cutting for shifting the fabric since my projection area wasn't quite long enough for my pattern pieces.
The collage below shows part of of my cutting process, using both pages of the non-inverted files so you can see how they behave on this lighter fabric. I don't often use projector files with black backgrounds because they trigger a headache, but sometimes they're necessary for easy and quick cutting. Having them on separate pages of the same file is wonderful for switching back and forth easily without having to adjust Adobe settings!
Next I needed to decide which side to put the slit on and adjust the bottom of both sides of the dress so I could get sewing. I placed both pieces together (if you cut on the fold, open them up). It doesn't matter if you do right sides together or wrong sides together, as long as you don't place right sides to wrong sides the slit side will be on correct side for both pieces. After the pieces are together pick which side will have the slit and trim the bottom curve off, for the other side trim the notched out section that is for hemming the slit. The collage below shows trimming off the excess for both sides.
From here I cut out the rest of my pieces and followed the tutorial for sewing together until I got to the hemming. If you are using a heavy or really drape-y fabric for your open back Marina you may wish to sew clear elastic into the binding when attaching to prevent gaping. I personally haven't needed it for any of mine: I have used DBP, 190 ABP and Jersey Moss (found in the Athletics Collection), all from ALD for mine and haven't experienced gaping.
For hemming I used my sewing machine to baste around the hem line, starting at the top of the slit and ending at the top on the other side. I pinned in place and sewed around close to the raw edge. I started and stopped in the side seam.
Then I just needed to put it on and show it off!
Now for the announcement for projector users:
The Marina Add-On will be available for purchase individually or as a bundle with the original Marina. The add-on is a supplement to the original and you will need to own that in order to have all the pattern pieces required to complete your sew. For paper pattern users this is not necessarily an inconvenience because after you've printed your pattern you have access to all the pieces in one spot (as long as you're not like me and misplace that one piece you need every time, haha).
For projector users that don't own the Marina already, when you purchase the bundle you'll have both patterns combined into one projector pattern so you don't need to switch back and forth every time you want to sew up one with the add-on. But if you already own the Marina you will have to open both files as well as switch back and forth. This may be ok for some, but for others this may be super frustrating. The bosses have come up with a solution to this dilemma and want to help! You can, of course, opt to buy the bundle or use software like Affinity (paid software) to combine the files... or you can send an email with your order number for both pattern purchases to the team and you will be emailed the complete file. How cool is that!? I just searched my email and it only took a few seconds to find my original Marina purchase and the order number is in the subject line so I don't even need to open it. You can also find your oder number in the "My Orders" section of your ALD account if you have one, and were logged in when you ordered.
Once you have both order numbers send an email to hello@amelialanedesigns.com so the Mya or Colleen can confirm your orders and send the combined projector file to you!