Tilly and the Buttons Bettine Hack

I hatched a plan to make the Tilly and the Buttons Bettine dress in an A-line skirt and drawstring waist fastening. The plan came together pretty smoothly during a sewing Saturday at the end of May when I had the house to myself. 

I used two metres of gorgeous patterned viscose that I bought from Sew Over It from their original Islington shop. The fabric has a printing flaw in it (a missed line of printing which is white) but it isn't very noticeable. Before I even cut the pattern pieces out I decided to use the reverse side of the fabric as it had a 'chambray' type effect and softened the intense colours a little.

The 'right' side is on the left and the 'wrong' side is on the right.

It was a fairly straight forward and enjoyable sew. I made a Bettine dress in 2015 and in 2017 cropped it into a top because the 'tulip-style' skirt section didn't really suit me. The idea of making the waistband as a drawstring rather than elastic was partly due to the lack of elastic supplies in my stash but mostly because I wanted it to be really comfortable and flexible.

A limited amount of viscose fabric meant I needed to raid the stash for a contrast facing, pocket, cuffs and waistband. The black worked well with the colours of the fabric but the cotton is a little stiff compared to the soft and drapey viscose. I am hoping it will soften in the wash.

I cut the A line to the very edges of the fabric to maximise the A-Line skirt section. I folded it towards the centre to create two centre fold lines.

The waistband drawstring sections were just two strips of black fabric attached to the bodice and skirt on the outside and on the inside I ironed the seam allowance in and pinned all around to create a channel. I topstitched this inner waistband on from the front. I sewed two buttonholes at the front of the waistband so the drawstring would come out of the front of the dress.

If I wanted to add elastic at a future date I created an opening on the inside waistband by hemming the centre back pieces rather than sewing them together. It probably makes more sense to see the photos below.

The final photos of the dress showing the last few steps of construction.

Eva Sweatshirt & LCC Craft Swish 2019

After making the Nina Lee Richmond Blazer I wanted a quick and fun make that wasn't too taxing on the brain. I came across a free pattern whilst sorting through my stash for the London Craft Club Big Craft Swish last Sunday at Cecil Sharp House in Camden.

I'll tell you about the Big Craft Swish first and give details about the sweatshirt later!

In preparation for the Swish, I reduced my stash by two bags of fabric and returned from the swish with a 2-metre piece of heart printed polyester and a half metre of lovely soft green stripe knit cotton.

There was a lovely bunch of people at the Swish. I bumped into my good friend Alex who had recently had a massive de-stash herself. She rather admirably left with NO swish items which was very impressive!

The walk through the park to get to Cecil Sharp house was beautiful. The calm before the thrill of the swish storm!

All the volunteers worked really hard and I had the good fortune of catching up with Geraldine who attends lots of London Craft Club events which was fab. A big thank you goes out to Sonia and Zoe from LCC for organising such a great event!

Onto my new sweatshirt. The free Eva Collection Sweatshirt pattern involved just a few pieces and I was drawn to the interesting chevron sleeve details. It is a great pattern for using up small sections of fabric. I had a few scraps of leftover black jersey from the Monroe Turtleneck and I bought a 0.8-metre piece of this cool 'junk-food' sweat-shirting in the Tilly and the Buttons flash sale last week.

I cut it out last Sunday afternoon and sewed it together at the Sewing Social at the Village Haberdashery on Thursday evening. In my head, this top was going to be the cutest but with an 'edge' style sweatshirt. In reality, it hasn't quite worked out that well.

The back neckline gapes terribly (and I used a walking foot too), the sleeves are too long after I added some impromptu cuffs (easy to rectify, I know!) and the overall fit is not what I imagined. It is also partly due to the lack of grey fabric that meant I had to add the extra black section on the lower sleeve which in hindsight breaks up the style lines too much!

On the plus side, it is very cosy, so maybe it will be relegated to an 'inside-only' garment.
Maybe I should chop off the sleeves at the 3/4 point, as I think the two different weights of fabric do not sit very well together?
What do you think?

Have you had any sewing disappointments lately?

Liberty Tilly and the Buttons Bettine Top

I first hacked the Tilly and the Buttons Bettine dress into a top earlier in the year when I realised the dress I had made in 2016 just sat in my wardrobe. I really like the hacked top with its cropped style and grown-on sleeves and I delved into my stash for a metre of navy Liberty Tana Lawn Jonathan print (I bought it at Shaukat in Kensington for £8.00 about four years ago).

The construction was very quick, perhaps three hours in total including hand stitching the sleeve cuffs. This speedy make was thanks to my past-self who had cut the whole thing out and popped it in a bag along with matching thread and the Bettine instructions ready for a sewing splurge to bring it to life!

Here it is in its fully french-seamed and hacked glory.

Have you hacked any patterns recently?

Re-fashioned Bettine Top

This project started life as a Tilly and the Buttons Bettine dress that I made in 2016. I didn't really get on with the exaggerated tulip style skirt as it was too wide around the hip area (and being pear shaped seemed to make it worse) so I decided to take it in at each side seam.

I took it in too much and now it was too TIGHT! Unfortunately I had already removed the excess seam allowance so when I wore the dress it used to ride up to what I would consider cheekily short proportions. Evidenced in this photo below (I always had to wear it with leggings to save my blushes). Yes, this dress is supposed to be around knee length!

It sat in my wardrobe unloved until yesterday when I had an idea to re-fashion it into a top. I carefully unpicked the waist seam and removed the elastic waistband. 

At this stage after trying the top on I realised that with an additional couple of cm's removed for the hem I would be left with a VERY short crop top. If it was 20 years ago I would have certainly gone ahead with a cropped style but in my mid 40's you have to consider the mental health of others and avoid flashing a pasty white un-toned belly at people......

Long story short, I created a bias band using the cut-off skirt section to mirror the bias cut cuff of the sleeves. I wore it today on an adventure to Dalston Curve Gardens and I loved it!

Here are some lovely shots of the fabulous Dalston Eastern Curve Gardens just two minutes walk from Dalston Junction train station. A secret oasis of gardening magic and a chilled out and calm atmosphere.

Large scale outdoor cross-stitch tapestry at the back of this planter is awesome!

Disco greenhouse!

The opening hours are from 11am - 10pm and there is a small cafe to buy homemade food and hot drinks. My friend Charlotte and I enjoyed a pot of tea sitting on outside sofas like this awesome one below!

 

Overall a lovely day! Have you re-fashioned a not-so-great hand-made into something better recently? 

Talking of re-fashioning.... are you going to join in with the Refashioners 2017 this year? 

Portia at the Makery is running the challenge again this year and the theme is 'Suits'. I think I'm going to give this one a miss and concentrate on working through my own stash of patterns, fabrics and half-made clothing!

Stash Busting Works in Progress

This morning I spent an hour working on a couple of ongoing projects. After reading Jenny's review about Tilly's Cleo dungaree dress I decided to draft and cut out a lining for my burgundy needlecord version too. I had some cerise pink lining fabric in my stash leftover from a Colette Ginger skirt I made years ago.

To make a lining I drafted the front and back sections using the main pattern pieces and removing the facing section. You can see the orange drafting lines including a 1.5 cm seam allowance.

The other thing to consider is removing the seam allowance along the centre front or back line depending whether you are making the mini or midi version of the dress.

The next thing I cut out was a Merchant & Mills Camber Set top using the last of the John Lewis 'Splodge' print viscose which I made a Liesl & Co Everyday Skirt out of here.

And finally I cut out all the pieces of this vintage pattern that I bought for £1 from Past Caring in Islington. I thought I could make it out of this lovely viscose from my stash which I bought at Guthrie & Ghanie. Annoyingly there isn't quite enough fabric! As this pattern definitely needs a fabric with drape I may need to *buy* something new to continue with this project. Oopps!

Now I just need to find the right fabric for this cool dress. Any ideas sewing friends?