Tag: tops

Sparkly Velvet Tunic

Butterick 5260

This is Butterick 5260, a variant on View A. I only had a very small piece of fabric, so I ended up shortening both the top and the sleeves. It was supposed to be a short dress, but it’s a long top now! I also did away with the little piece of elastic gathering at the front, because I just couldn’t get it to sit right.

I made this in one afternoon, before going out for cocktails and dinner with friends that same evening. It went together really quickly, and I’m very pleased with it. The only down side is that the glitter has a tendency to spread itself everywhere!

And the award for the most ridiculous sleeves goes to…

McCalls 6164

…McCalls 6164!

I saw a couple of incarnations of McCalls 6164 over at Gigi Sews, and couldn’t believe that this pattern had passed me by. I’m a huge fan of 80s-style pouffy sleeves, so I couldn’t resist grabbing the pattern and sewing view D, which seems to have the most ridiculous sleeves of them all.

The fullness in the sleeve head is created with both pleats and gathers. There is an additional option to do something clever with organza that makes the shoulders defy gravity, but even I thought that was taking things a bit too far.

I made a size Medium, but gave myself a bit of additional room in the waist. All the seams are done on the overlocker, and the neckline and hem simply have the serged edge turned to the inside and topstitched. I might actually go back and make a deeper hem, because it seems to have a tendency to roll up. I also need to make the bottom of the sleeves a little bit narrower. They’re designed to be about six inches longer than your arms, so that they ruche at the bottom, but I’ve got quite little hands and they keep falling down.

It was a really easy top to make, and uses less than two metres of fabric despite the length of the sleeves. For a proper 1980s vibe, I think I’ll be making a crushed velvet one next.

That’s more like it.

Wrap trousers and swing top

I spent yesterday afternoon developing the prototypes I made on Saturday – in fabrics that I’ll actually wear.

The top is a pink tartan cotton and viscose blend shirting. I added sleeves, although they didn’t turn out quite how I meant them to. I was intending to make floaty butterfly sleeves, but these have come out distinctly tight. They’re not too tight to wear though, so I can change them next time. If they get too annoying, I’ll just chop them off. The fabric is 60″ wide, rather than the 45″ I used for the prototype, so the hem is much wider and the sides are much longer.

The trousers are made from my stash of Bishopston organic cotton. I made a more angled crotch seam than on the previous pair, which makes them more fitted around the waist. Because of this I didn’t make a drawstring. I used bias binding to enclose the top edge, extending it 20″ on each side to make the ties. I’m trying not to worry that the wrapped edges are a bit wobbly. One of the things about handwoven fabric is that the grain isn’t anything like as straight as something that’s been machine made. I can’t do anything about that, so I’m just going to have to live with slightly wiggly trousers.

Now i just need to hope that the weather stays nice enough for me to wear them.

Summer Outfit

New summer outfit (prototype)

This week’s been a pretty hot one, as far as weather goes in the UK. I’m sure most people are thrilled to bits (in fact I can hear them all outside, laughing and enjoying their barbecues in their gardens), but unfortunately for me, I’m really not very good at hot. I get sunstroke very easily, and just generally don’t cope very well with the heat.

All my usual work clothes are making me much too hot, and all my summer clothes aren’t really smart enough to wear for work. Everything in the shops appears to be made of polyester, which is not a nice fabric to wear in the heat, so I decided it was about time I stopped moaning and tried to figure out something I could make quickly and wear all summer.

I started with an idea for a loose kimono-sleeved jacket, although the prototype didn’t come out very well. More work needed on that one. So I moved on to a very loose, draped top. This will definitely work better in a softer fabric, like a linen or a lawn, but I think it works nicely with a belt. A bit martial-arts-looking all in white, but I think that effect would be reduced in a different fabric or a different colour.

New summer outfit (prototype)

The trousers are a simple wraparound style with a drawstring waist. They’re so cool and comfortable, and they were extremely easy to make. These would definitely be lovely in a nice soft, crinkly linen or a handwoven organic cotton.

I think if I can get the fabrics right, this would make an ideal “smart-casual” outfit for work.

I’ve got a hole in me pocket…

Diane's Beatles Tunic

This is another tunic for Diane – a short hip-length one this time.

Diane’s online name is “Bloomeenee”, so you can imagine that she was very keen to have something made from this fabulous Beatles Yellow Submarine fabric!

Here’s a YouTube clip of the “Sea of Holes” part of the film.

While I was sending off to America for the fabric, I took the opportunity to order a couple of extra metres for myself. I’m thinking of making a psychedelic coat, lined with fleece. Watch this space…

Taking over with Tunics.

It occurred to me that it would probably help me in my plan to take over the world, if I told you how I was hoping to get there.

This is how:

Raglan tunic tops and dresses

I’ve been working on various incarnations of this pretty little tunic dress and top over the past couple of years, and I have great plans for their future. But that can only happen if I tell you how you can buy them – so that’s what I’m doing now.

I can make these in just about any fabric you can think of. Pictured above are knits and wovens, patterns and plain, recycled curtains and bed linen, brand new fabrics and an old t-shirt.

Because I sew each tunic by hand, I can make them in any size you need. Just send me a couple of simple measurements, and I’ll send you a dress which will fit.

All the information you need is here.

Know somebody who you think might like one of these?
Please feel free to pass on the details.

Thank you!