Beige Dress for Gaby

Last year I bought a large piece of viscose and made a Rhapsody for Gaby out of it. I had a fairly big remnant - probably half of the fabric, so this year I decided to use it to make a summer dress for Gaby.

I am modeling the dress, but it is supposed to fit Gaby, who is taller and a bit more broad-shouldered than me.

The pattern is a mesh-up of three dresses and it took me quite a while finally to cut it. The skirt is a slightly widened skirt from the Roliz dress by Vikisews. I love my Roliz and my only regret is that I didn't make the skirt a bit wider, as I had plenty of its gorgeous fabric.

The bodice is again Burda #104 02/2011 dress, but only up to the armholes. The back is cut straight and flat, and the front continues into Bailen dress by Pauline Alice, with wider straps, as I was aiming at strap width that could cover the bra straps underneath. The dress closes with a zipper on the side.

Pattern: Bailѐn Top by Pauline Alice, free pattern, Roliz by  VikiSews, Burda #104 02/2011 dress

Size: 34 

Fabric: 100% viscose for the outer dress, polyester for the lining

Time to make: 3 days

 

The dress is fully lined, as all of my woven fabric dresses lately, with simple beige lining fabric for the bodice and smooth poly-acetate lining for the skirt.

Another Bailen Top

As I often do in the summer with the remnants from my viscose / georgette projects - a new Bailen Top. I've already got five of these, but I found that I most often wear my georgette top, as it crinkles much less than the others, so I was very motivated to make another one out of this gorgeous cotton georgette.

I cut the pieces on the bias, as is per pattern, and as I didn't have a big enough bias piece for the back, I actually made it out of two separate pieces, sewn together with a french seam. My side seams are french seams also.

I like to play with the straps, this time I made two pairs of them and decided to place them in the form of a letter M. I think it probably adds some interest to the back and is supposed to cover better the bra straps, but as evidenced from the photos, not quite.

As much as I like this pattern and find it particularly good for utilizing summer fabric remnants, I believe I am fed up with it. I have a few other strap tops in mind so next year I might finally try something new.

Pattern: Bailѐn Top by Pauline Alice, free pattern

Size: 34, slightly modified, cut on the bias

Fabric: 100% cotton georgette

Time to make: 3 days

Red Bailѐn Top

The last of my red viscose fabric. So far I've shown you two of the items I sewed from my 2.5 m long piece of viscose  - a cropped tied shirt for Gaby and a blouse with ruffles for me. I also made a Burda 6840 sleeveless shirt for Gaby, which actually ate most of the fabric and which I hope to be able to photoshoot soon. And then I was left with literally bits and pieces, some fairly large, so I took out my Bailѐn Top pattern pieces and cut a new Bailѐn top for me. This is my fifth, if I am not mistaken, this pattern has turned into my go-to for utilizing the most of my viscose fabrics.

Alas, I could not place the pattern pieces on the bias, so this top is cut on the straight and it does make a big difference as far as fitting is concerned - the top looks less tailored, longer and more close fitting at the hips. It's just the way viscose plays with the pattern when it is cut along the grain and not along the bias. Still, I had plenty of fabric to cut the bias bands, that finish the neckline and the armholes.

And speaking of armholes, I made such a rookie's mistake, that I can barely believe myself - I skipped stay stitching the armholes after I cut the fabric and now one of my armholes is almost an inch larger than the other! It stretched while I was sewing the bias tape, but I only noticed it after I had completely finished the top. It's not fatal and I'm not going to fix it by undoing all the work on the straps, but I hope it will be a cautionary tale for me never to skip stay stitching!!!!

Pattern: Bailѐn Top by Pauline Alice, free pattern

Size: 34, slightly modified, cut on the grain

Fabric: 100% viscose poplin

Thread: cotton, red

Time to make: 3 days

I did two more modifications of the pattern - one intentional and the other out of necessity. 

The intentional one - I added straight wider straps. My straps are about 2.5 cm wide, sufficient to cover my bra straps (unless I'm moving, then one could glimpse a bra strap at the back, but so what :)

 And the second modification: my back has a seam in the middle, as I didn't have a second big piece of fabric, from which to cut it on the fold. All of my seams are french seams and I used exposed bias tape finishes of the armholes and the neckline (as I believe is according to the pattern instructions).

All in all, I am happy I utilized my scraps and I deem the top perfectly wearable. Out of all the viscose tops I made this spring and summer, my Bailѐn tops are the most worn!