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!

Blue Bailen Top

One more Bailen top out of scraps. I made this one months ago, but somehow always missed the opportunity to photoshoot it. The fabric is heavy viscose, which I used for a hooded shirt for Gaby and a (still not blogged) dress for myself. I had a very little amount of scraps, so I had to make the back out of two separate pieces. All of my seams are french seams, I used narrow hem and bias tape out of the same fabric.

The top is cut on the bias and after my experiment with the brown Bailen, which I cut straight, now I'm positive that these little tops do need the drape that comes from the bias cutting.

This has been one of my favourite tops this summer, especially combined with the blue cardigan I made in spring:

Pants #114 Burda 04/2013 and Bailén Top

 My third Bailén Top and a new pair of pencil pants.

As with my other Bailén Tops, I made this top out of fabric remnants from other bigger projects - in this case a Shkatulka shirt I finished earlier this year. The fabric is a very thin viscose, which looks a bit plain, crinkles like nobody's business and has little other to recommend it but its noble color and solid drapability. I had enough fabric to cut the top on the bias and without a seam at the back.

As I'm not a big fan of spaghetti straps,  I modified the top to have wide straps, gathered slightly by a small tab at the front for added interest. This is definitely my most favourite out of my three Bailén tops, solely on account of the wider straps.

The second and more substantial make are the trousers - a relatively simple pattern from Burda 04 / 2013. I had a very limited amount of fabric - about 72 cm, plus some scraps, which I used to cut the cuffs and the belt.
I am fairly confident with Burda patterns, when I make my corrections on the upper part of the body, as I know my measures and how they relate to the Burda block. But I hadn't made pants for myself and I was testing the block. I reduced the pattern pieces 2 cm flat above the crotch and 2 cm above the knee and to achieve the desired length out of my short piece of fabric I added open double cuffs.

The pants have high waist, which is still a bit high on me, even after my correction, so I believe I need to make a petite front rise correction too, removing a triangle of about an inch from the front rise. Still, the fit is fairly good and I'm not a fan of wearing my tops tucked in my pants, anyway.
The pants close with an invisible zipper in the side seam.

The fabric of the pants is 100% polyester, probably a single brushed poly, as it looks smooth like velvet on the outside and textured on the inside. First time using this type of fabric, frays like crazy, but otherwise drapy, comfortable and heavy enough for bottoms.

 Back to bangs!

Bailen Top In Brown

I had a small amount of remnant georgette from my mother's Rhapsody and I made another Bailen top. This one is cut on the straight and not on the bias and it does make a big difference in the way it fits me. Still, I love the colors and it was lovely to have a light top under my leather jacket on a day of very uncertain weather.

I decided to make two pairs of straps this time to add some interest to the back. However, obviously I'll have to find a less visible bra, as this one is peaking under the top :(

More about our walk - in my next post.

Think Pink Cosy Cardigan and Bailen Top

Two of my most favorite free patterns lately, which I've sewn multiple times - the Think Pink Cosy Cardigan and the Bailen Dress & Top. I'm a big fan of Alisa Shay's video channel Thoughtful Creativity, where she often presents free sewing patterns she's sewn or checked and these two are among her favourites. Back in February I sewed my first Think Pink Cosy Cardigan, but I messed the sizing and it came a bit too snug. I still wore it a lot at home over my Laundry Day Tunic, so it was not a complete failure. Soon after I finished the first cardigan, I cut my second one in this very thin and drapy polyester knit. This time I made size S, without shortening it and it turned exactly the cardigan I needed - light, long and with pockets.

I've worn it and wear it a lot and sometimes lend it to Gaby too :), over a top, for an evening walk. I find it very comfortable with these big pockets, in which I can put my phone, when I go for my daily walk in the park, listening to some music (lately I'm crazy about Angus and Julia Stone).

The second precious free pattern is this french cami, Bailen Top & Dress by Pauline Alice. The pattern is a free pdf download, comes in 8 sizes and with instructions in three languages - English, French and Spanish.
I've already made four out of fabric remnants, as it takes so little fabric! This one came from the remnants of the woven viscose for my first Rhapsody . I had enough, so it was cut on the bias, as per the pattern, with a small modification - I made the size 34 for Gaby and a also reduced the width of the cami under the arms by 1 cm on each pattern piece, a total of 4 cm, as it was a bit gaping, by simply straitening the curve of the side seam.

I made all of my seams french seams, the hem is narrow hem as shown in the instructions and the straps are made with bias tape. With six Rhapsody style blouses and four camis, all with bias tape straps, I feel like I've been making bias tape all spring long :)

The weather this year is very warm for spring and Gaby has been wearing her cami quite a lot, both at home and outside. And though I made already four, I'm keeping the pattern on top of my sewing table, it is a great stash buster, easy to sew and so comfortable and flattering to wear. And I think a Bailen Dress would be something to consider for the hot summer days too.