Can anyone tell me if there is a way to adjust the back of a gown to make it backless to just below the waist?

I see where I can increase the depth of the back neckline, I can drop it very low, BUT how can I also decrease the width of the fabric on the sides as well? I'm wanting the program to create the appropriate facings.

Anyone?

You can do that by increasing the "Neckline Width" (in "Options -> Neckline and Collar"). For example, I took the pattern for a shirtdress that I made recently and increased the Neckline Width to 11" and the Back Neck Depth to 18" and this is the resulting front and back pattern pieces:


(Note that Dress Shop limits maximum value for Neckline Width. Too wide a neckline means there would be no shoulder seam left! Note also that Dress Shop redraws the back dart(s) to take into account the super-low back neck line.)

If you don't want the wide neckline, I would do this just to get the draft of the back neckline, then manually combine this pattern with the same pattern that has the "standard" Neckline Width and Back Collar Depth. Print out both back pieces and manually combine them: