Take It or Sleeve It With This Fun Peppermint Bowen Dress Sleeve Hack!

Are you totally obsessed with the Peppermint Bowen dress yet? We know we are. It’s simple, it’s comfortable, it’s elegant, it’s swooshy, what more can you ask for? Well… it’s also adaptable. 

Hackable even. We love the Bowen Dress’s ruffley rah-rah sleeves but maybe you want to play things a little closer to the wrist. By lengthening the sleeves and adding an elastic channel at the bottom, you can add an additional two sleeve looks to your Bowen arsenal! 


What you will need

Everything you need to make the Bowen Dress 

Plus…

Elastic 

Iron 

Ruler 

Safety Pins

Let’s get making! 


STEP ONE // Before you start, download a copy of the free pattern (if you haven’t already). When cutting out your sleeve ruffle rectangles, use the width measurement of your chosen size but add an additional 20cm to your length measurement, going from 27cm to 47cm. 


DOWNLOAD THE PATTERN NOW!


STEP TWO // Follow the instructions as written until you get to step 13. At this point, fold the bottom edge of the sleeve over 1cm towards the wrong side of the fabric and press.

STEP THREE // Fold edge over again, this time by 3cm (or approximate width of your elastic plus 1cm) and press.

STEP FOUR // Topstitch down around folded edge, leaving a gap in the stitching of approximately 5cm.

STEP FIVE// Measure out enough elastic to sit comfortably around your bicep and cut.

STEP SIX // Attach a safety pin to one end of the elastic and use it to feed the elastic though the sleeve casing. Pin the other end of the elastic to the sleeve so it doesn’t get sucked into the casing and lost. Make sure the elastic doesn’t get twisted during this process.

STEP SEVEN // Stitch both ends of the elastic together securely. 

STEP EIGHT // Pull the elastic back inside the casing and stitch up the gap left open in step four here.

STEP NINE // You are done with the sleeves! Continue following the original instructions until you’ve completed your beautiful Bowen Dress! Push the sleeves up to wear as delightful mushroom puffs or wear down for a more autumnal peasant look!


FEELING CREATIVE? WHY NOT GET INSPIRED BY ALL OUR OTHER CRAFTY GOODNESS!

You might also like

JOIN OUR MAILING LIST

Brighten up your inbox with our not-too-frequent emails featuring Peppermint-related news, events, competitions and more!

explore

More articles

Imagine a table big enough for everyone, breaking bread and finding common ground with those we may see as ‘different’, but are at heart the same. Enter Feast for Freedom: a call for connection across cultures, and to say, ‘you are welcome here’.
Coffee begins long before your morning cuppa! Papua New Guinean farmer Elizabeth Duna shares what it takes to grow great coffee, strengthen communities, and lead as a woman in farming, as 2026 marks the Year of the Woman Farmer.
Salt air, good vibes and bold ideas will soon collide at the Sunshine Coast’s annual Horizon Festival. Celebrating ten years of creativity this May, Horizon brings art, music, performance and radical imagination to Kabi Kabi and Jinibara Country.
Looking for a beach (or backyard) brolly that’s anything but boring? Come stand under Basil Bangs’ umbrella! 17 years into their journey, this Northern Beaches-based company is actively pursuing B-Corp certification.
🎵 I’m coming out! I want the world to know, I’ve got to let it show… 🎵 The Sydney Mardi Gras isn’t just a celebration of glamour, grit and queer pride, it’s an act of defiance built on a background of activism and ongoing discrimination.

Have you made the Viola Quilted Jacket yet? This pattern hits the sweet spot for both established sewists keen to learn a new skill (quilting!),…

Hang out with us on Instagram

Pull up a chair… there’s room at this table!⁠
⁠
For the first time, Feast for Freedom is bringing people together for a spectacular long-table dinner as part of the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival.⁠
⁠
A Longer Table is exactly what it sounds like: one beautiful shared table inside the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (@Asrc1), piled with generous dishes inspired by this year’s hero cooks, Noha and Nige.⁠
⁠
From 6 to 9pm on Wednesday, 25 March, this is what you can expect:⁠
🍽 A three-course shared feast⁠
🍷 Matched drinks⁠
🎶 Live entertainment⁠
✨ A room full of good humans⁠
⁠
Your ticket doesn’t just buy you a delicious dinner. It supports the ASRC’s vital work and helps create a fairer future for people seeking asylum.⁠
⁠
Seats are limited, and long tables have a way of filling up quickly – head to @MelbFoodAndWine’s website to book now: feastforfreedom.org.au/mfwf⁠
⁠
#FeastForFreedom #MelbourneFoodAndWineFestival #LongTableDinner #FoodForChange ⁠
Sew versatile! 🪡

Another great make from Lisa from @SunnySewsEveryday:

My #PeppermintWaratahWrapDress is finished and I’m so proud of it. It has been designed not to flap open and flash your pants in the wind, so I feel confident it will be a great wheelchair or standing dress in English weather.

#PeppermintPatterns #WrapDress #WrapDressPattern
✨ INSTANT CLASSIC ✨

The Peppermint Myrtle Shift Dress is a beginner-friendly make with a few special details based on the ever-stylish shift shape – the perfect dress you need in your wardrobe right now! 

Myrtle cuts above the knee with options to customise the length. Don’t think she’s reserved for hot weather either: try a heavier-weight fabric to turn your Myrtle into a pinafore-style garment for layering.

For our fabrics we chose two from our lovely sewing partner @Karmme_Apparel – the bold Rottnest Stripes in a lightweight, soft-drape cotton, and the quality linen in the handpainted Mexico Collection. 

Get making the Myrtle – the only question is, can you stop at just one?

Link in bio 🪡

Fabric: @Karmme_Apparel
Sewist: @Laura_The_Maker
Photos: @KelleySheenan
Models: @SerahSews and @Pins_And_Tonic
Location: @ShareTheDignityAustralia

#PeppermintMyrtleShiftDress #PeppermintPatterns