Fiona is a fun, trendy take on a traditional raglan-style top. Fiona features top or tunic lengths; cold shoulder with or without flounce; and short, 3/4, long sleeves, or tank! On top of all that, we are so excited to share some of our favorite hacks and mash-ups with you!

Fiona + Nina Mash

If you know me, you know I am wearing dresses 95% of the time so it was only normal that I would make the new Mama Fiona into a dress. Today I wanted to show you how easy it is to mach the Mama Nina with the Mama Fiona, and make yourself a super comfy, fun, edgy dress. For this hack, you will need both the Mama Nina and Mama Fiona patterns, as well as additional yardage for dress length.

Start by printing the two patterns in the size needed. You will be using the sleeves from Mama Fiona, but mashing the bodices.Grab the front pattern pieces of the Fiona and Nina. Match the sleeves curves, you’ll see that they match perfectly. Tip – you can also skip the sleeves for a tank version of Fiona + Nina! You’ll follow these directions for mashing the front and back pattern pieces, and then continue on with the Fiona tutorial as written. 

You can now trace a new front pattern piece ,or you can do as I did and just pin the patterns together making sure that the arm curve and center front match. Repeat with the back piece.

Cut the fabric for the sleeves, flounce, and binding using the Mama Fiona pattern pieces. Cut the front and back  using the new “mashed” pattern pieces. You will now sew the dress as in the Mama Fiona tutorial. Easy peasy!

Instead of hemming the dress, I added a little lace trim to the bottom. I simply placed the wrong side of the trim to  the right side of the bottom of the dress, overlapping  by 1/4″. You can coverstitch it in place (as I did) or sew it with a zig zag or even straight stitch.

All you have left to so now is enjoy your new Mama Nina/Fiona dress and show it off in the Made for Mermaids FB group 😉 –Alex

The same hack works for girls and dolly, too!

 

Exposed Binding

 

The Fiona pattern has you using bias facings for the cold shoulder openings on the sleeves.  This means that the binding on the shoulders is tucked under and then sewn to the inside of the opening.  It gives a clean finish, and it appears as though the sleeve is lined.  Having the binding on the shoulder exposed can give a fun pop of color and a cute look.  In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to go about finished the cold shoulder opening this way instead.

First, since you won’t be having a seam allowance that you’re turning under at the shoulders, you’ll need to remove this from the opening so that it stays the same width.  I removed 3/8″ all the way around the opening on the shoulder pattern piece, and then cut out my sleeves with the new inner line.

For the binding, I cut at 2 pieces at 1.5″ length by the width given in the chart for the cold shoulder binding in the size that I made (page 5 of the Fiona tutorial).  I prepared my binding by folding it in half along the long edge with right sides together.  I then opened up my binding and folded the raw edges in to meet the center fold. Find the center of your sleeve opening and the binding.  Line up the ends to the ends of the sleeve and then stretch the binding to fit the opening and sew with a 1/4″ seam allowance.

Next, fold the binding back so that the raw edges meet in the middle, and then fold the binding in half again to enclose the seam. Edge stitch the binding.

You will now continue to construct the shirt using the rest of the Fiona tutorial. – Anna

 

Neckline Bow

I love the Mama Fiona pattern as is, but I couldn’t resist adding a little bow to the neckline! The only extra materials you’ll need are a bit of scrap paper, tape (any kind will do – you don’t need much!), and extra fabric since your neckband will be much longer than the pattern calls for.

Your first step is to determine how long you want your ties; I added 11″ in length to each side of my neckband. If you want longer ties, you will need additional length. Cut two scrap pieces of paper at your desired length, using the same width as the existing Fiona neckband pattern piece.  Next, remove the seam allowance from the neckband pattern piece, since we won’t be attaching the ends. After removing the seam allowance from both sides, mark halfway between the front corner and back corner pieces on one side; it doesn’t matter which one you choose. Once you’ve marked the halfway point, cut the neckband pattern piece along the dotted line.

After cutting the pattern piece, you’ll reattach to the opposite side, with the back center lines touching. Tape the two pieces together with NO overlap. You may want to label the lines on your pattern piece so that you keep all the markings straight. Finally, attach your extra length to each side.

Attach neckband per the Fiona tutorial. Tie your neckband ties into a bow, and enjoy!  -Colleen

 

Neckline Casing

As if Mama FIona and Fiona weren’t already perfect enough for summer! The only additional materials you will need for this hack are a turning tool (optional) and fabric for the drawstrings.  Construct your top as instructed in the tutorial, however you will not need a neckband.

Enjoy! – Nicole 

Regular Raglan

Love the cold shoulder, but need a great everyday raglan as well? Well, Fiona can easily be modified to do just that!

First, we are going to cut out our pieces; your front and back pieces stay exactly the same (use view View A).  For the sleeves, we just need to close where the cold shoulder would be; I just put a scrap of paper in there to make it easy to see where we are going to cut.  You will just cut the top of the sleeve piece, like the cut out is not there. You do not need to cut out any flounce pieces.

The first picture shows the new cut line, and the second shows your cut sleeve.  Once your sleeve pieces are cut, refer back to the Fiona tutorial to finish constructing your closed shoulder Fiona!

TIP: You can use a neckband, instead of the binding if you prefer. For the neckband, you can use the pattern piece as is; however, I wanted it just a bit narrower so instead of 2.5 inches, I cut mine at 2 inches, leaving the width the same.  I attached the neckband in the same way that you would any other shirt, using a 1/2 inch seam allowance.  If you decide that you want to do binding like the pattern shows, you can certainly do that as well, but for the sake of speed (and because my daughter really does not care!) I did a normal neckband.

How easy was that?! This method can also be done on the Mama Fiona found here for a great semi-fitted raglan.- Angela 

Hopefully the release of  Dolly Fiona, Mama Fiona, and Fiona will bring the warm weather our way! We can’t wait to see all of  your gorgeous sews. Don’t forget to share in our Facebook group, and on Instagram! #mamafionapattern #fionapattern #dollyfionapattern #madeformermaids