After making two Botany tops I finally went for a fabric I've been very excited about and cut out the dress. I thought my chances of success were high - the top fits great. And I was really curious how the dress would fit considering the amount of ease.
I barely eked this out of my fabric and used some scraps of black silk noil for the bias taping. Because it didn't quite match the colour, I ended up flipping it to the inside, instead of keeping it on the outside.
The skirt was really easy to make, not adding much time to construction at all.
But in the end, this was a total sack - exactly because the same amount of ease is present in the dress as is in the top. To make it fit, I'd have to remove 2 vertical inches from front and back of all pieces, and maybe add a zip. Indeed, maybe I'll do that one day, because it's still very cute.
I debated removing fabric from the back, or removing the skirt and having another top. But in the end I decided to send it to my sewing partner Tessa in New Zealand. It's summer there! And she loves it and looks great in it!
As I perused my photos, I thought possibly adding the ruffle would improve the dress even without changing the size. Another option would be using a very fine drapy fabric that might appear shapeless but would shift with a breeze...I still haven't given up on this idea.
The top is an upcycled linen dress from goodwill. When I saw the ankle length dress I thought I could make anything out of it! But in fact with side slits I lost a lot of potential yardage so I just went for a botany top with some fancy pockets. I wore it quite a bit and then donated it to my cousin with the excuse that it's summer in the northern hemisphere (now I can make myself another one with a ruffle...)
The final top is made from a fantastic scrap of Marimekko fabric I got on etsy. Every now and then I have warm memory pangs from my time living in Finland, and I buy some Marimekko fabric or Moomin mugs...The pattern is too huge to make a little bag, and I love it too much, so I managed to fit it onto the front of a Botany top. The back is some stretch silk-cotton mystery blend from the sale bin at The Fabric Store in Auckland.
I didn't quite get these done before I left Arizona, hence the delays and the change in scenery! The mushroom top is really fabulous, because the stretchy back gives it more movement. I did a micro hem by overlocking the hem and folding it over 3/8" because I wanted to save as much of the woodpecker as possible. I'm really happy with how this came out, I put quite a bit of effort into saving all the best graphics on the fabric scrap - a tiny bit more woodpecker would be nice but as it is I think it's a good balance with a touch of red on each side.
There's still one more Botany that I cut out in the States and haven't sewn yet, but I think you get the idea...
I barely eked this out of my fabric and used some scraps of black silk noil for the bias taping. Because it didn't quite match the colour, I ended up flipping it to the inside, instead of keeping it on the outside.
The skirt was really easy to make, not adding much time to construction at all.
But in the end, this was a total sack - exactly because the same amount of ease is present in the dress as is in the top. To make it fit, I'd have to remove 2 vertical inches from front and back of all pieces, and maybe add a zip. Indeed, maybe I'll do that one day, because it's still very cute.
I debated removing fabric from the back, or removing the skirt and having another top. But in the end I decided to send it to my sewing partner Tessa in New Zealand. It's summer there! And she loves it and looks great in it!
As I perused my photos, I thought possibly adding the ruffle would improve the dress even without changing the size. Another option would be using a very fine drapy fabric that might appear shapeless but would shift with a breeze...I still haven't given up on this idea.
The top is an upcycled linen dress from goodwill. When I saw the ankle length dress I thought I could make anything out of it! But in fact with side slits I lost a lot of potential yardage so I just went for a botany top with some fancy pockets. I wore it quite a bit and then donated it to my cousin with the excuse that it's summer in the northern hemisphere (now I can make myself another one with a ruffle...)
The final top is made from a fantastic scrap of Marimekko fabric I got on etsy. Every now and then I have warm memory pangs from my time living in Finland, and I buy some Marimekko fabric or Moomin mugs...The pattern is too huge to make a little bag, and I love it too much, so I managed to fit it onto the front of a Botany top. The back is some stretch silk-cotton mystery blend from the sale bin at The Fabric Store in Auckland.
I didn't quite get these done before I left Arizona, hence the delays and the change in scenery! The mushroom top is really fabulous, because the stretchy back gives it more movement. I did a micro hem by overlocking the hem and folding it over 3/8" because I wanted to save as much of the woodpecker as possible. I'm really happy with how this came out, I put quite a bit of effort into saving all the best graphics on the fabric scrap - a tiny bit more woodpecker would be nice but as it is I think it's a good balance with a touch of red on each side.
There's still one more Botany that I cut out in the States and haven't sewn yet, but I think you get the idea...
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