20 February 2019

Five Design Hacks for the Coco Pattern

Five Design Hacks for Coco - Sewing Pattern by Tilly and the Buttons

We always knew our Coco sewing pattern was versatile but now we've seen all of the personalisations and hacks you've made with it, we may be falling in love all over again!

Four years after its first release, it's still one of our bestselling patterns. Coco is speedy to make, comfy to wear and easy to adapt to your personal style. Here are some ideas for hacking the pattern courtesy of some of our lovely customers...

Five Design Hacks for Coco - Sewing Pattern by Tilly and the Buttons

Five Design Hacks for Coco - Sewing Pattern by Tilly and the Buttons



1) Bell sleeves

Do you want to look like a true diva in your Coco just like Sewing Bee's Juliet? Check out her blog where she shared the tutorial for this fabulous sleeve hack. Making the inside of the bell sleeves in a contrasting colourful fabric gives your dress an extra playful twist. Fabulous!

Five Design Hacks for Coco - Sewing Pattern by Tilly and the Buttons
Five Design Hacks for Coco - Sewing Pattern by Tilly and the Buttons

2) Heart pockets

As you might have noticed before, we’re all about the pockets. And with Galentine’s Day still fresh on our minds, we’re crushing over these heart-shaped pockets made by Abi from The Crafty Pinup. I really like the pop of colour this hack gives to a classic Breton striped Coco. Follow the link to her blog where she explains how she made these pockets for the Coco pattern.

Five Design Hacks for Coco - Sewing Pattern by Tilly and the Buttons


Five Design Hacks for Coco - Sewing Pattern by Tilly and the Buttons


3) Ribbons

Pauline from Sewuthinkucan draws her inspiration from all the trendy high street fashion. For her Coco hack she took inspo from an Anthropologie dress with some large statement ribbons on the sleeves. We love how these small changes transformed the whole style of the Coco. *Heart eyes*

Five Design Hacks for Coco - Sewing Pattern by Tilly and the Buttons


Five Design Hacks for Coco - Sewing Pattern by Tilly and the Buttons


4) Nursing top

This hack is for all you mums out there. Time to make a super comfortable Coco dress or top that will make breastfeeding those hungry bubs more functional while still feeling totally stylish. Zoe from SoZo shows you how to redraft the pattern and gives the best tips for how to make this breastfeeding-friendly hack. Zoe told us this works perfectly with the Agnes top or a Freya too.

If you're interested in other nursing-friendly sewing patterns, check out Tilly's round-up.

Five Design Hacks for Coco - Sewing Pattern by Tilly and the Buttons

5) Ruffle sleeves


It seems that Abi from the Crafty Pinup is in love with our Coco pattern just as much as we are. She's shared a tutorial on this gorgeous hack for her Coco dress. Here she recreated one of her favourite ready-to-wear styles, the ruffle sleeve. She also made video tutorial explaining how she made this on-trend hack. Such a cute result!

These are just a few ideas for hacking your Coco, but there’s a million more possibilities! What would you make? See more inspiration on the hashtag #SewingCoco and don’t forget to tag your makes on Instagram so we can all see them :)

PS. If you liked this post, you may also like Five Design Hacks for the Cleo Dungaree DressFive Design Hacks for the Bettine Dress and Ten Design Hack Ideas for the Seren Dress.