Bias Peplum Top- Shirt Refashion and BHL Flora Hack

I know, this is a very unusual look for me... as well as an unusual process!

As I was sewing the By Hand London Flora dress this summer, it occurred to me that the pattern would probably make a great peplum top. Not that I know anything about peplum tops, since I don't own one and I am not sure I ever have.

More recently, I was thinking about possible refashion ideas, using a man's shirt. I had been inspired by Portia's blog at The Makery where she was hosting a shirt refashion challenge-- her guest refashionners did some totally amazing things with their shirts. To be honest, I've never refashioned much of anything before. I did go through a sweater felting stage a couple years ago and I considered making things out of sweaters, but the only wearable thing I ended up making was a baby hoodie out of a totally irresistable cashmere sweater. Now Little Lion is wearing it, so I guess that counts for something!

So here is the shirt I decided to use. It is sort of perfect for a refashion... it feels like linen and is 3XL. A total charity shop find! Oddly, the tag said it was 100% cotton, but as I was deconstructing it, I found another tag that said 100% linen. Go figure.

And, because I just KNEW it would be impossible to get the peplum that I wanted out of this one shirt, I bought a coordinating red shirt.

You might notice, the stripes are on grain. In order to get the chevrons I wanted, I cut the bodice on the bias, then reattached the front bodice to the button placket. I was able to cut the back bodice from the back of the shirt, the front bodice from the two sleeves, and some of the peplum from the front and the scraps. The rest of the peplum I had to make from the red shirt.

Since I hadn't made this view of the Flora, I did a quick muslin to check fit. It actually fit quite well, all I had to do was move the bust darts half an inch down and toward the center. I didn't notice it on the muslin, but I did have a bit of gaping at the back of the neck and I ended up pinching out a 1/2 inch wedge from the top of the center back seam. 

Sewing it together was pretty straightforward. I handled the bias pieces very carefully to avoid stretching, and I used a lot of pins. For the back seam, I basted before I sewed to make sure the stripes matched. The don't match exactly, but I was able to at least get the wide and narrow stripes to match.

When I tried it on, there was massive gaping around the buttonholes in the front. I should have guessed... I'm making a fitted top so even in the best of situations it would be hard to avoid gaping around buttonholes, nevermind the wide spacing of a men's shirt. I ended up sewing up the button placket, except for the top two buttons, and adding an invisible side zip. This makes a pretty good compromise... I don't have to worry about how much skin I'm showing, and I still have nursing access.

The inside of the bodice is lined-- the fabric was pretty transparent. I usually manage to "bag" the lining, but I screwed up the order of construction so my only option to get a clean finish was to hand sew the bodice lining at the waist.

Excuse the wrinkles, I took this after a day of wearing the top!

I actually brought a change of clothes to work, just in case I wasn't comfortable wearing this top all day, but actually I liked it much more than I thought I would. It was cool and comfortable, and I felt like the high waist and peplum was flattering on my post-baby body. I thought it looked pretty snazzy with a plain black blazer. My husband said he wasn't a fan though-- he says the colors and flared skirt are too much together. It definitely is far more flamboyant than my usual daily fashion choices, which are pretty much understated shapes and black, gray and white. What do you think?

Shibori Dot Anna Dress: By Hand London

To continue my By Hand London pattern streak, here is my first Anna dress!

I had planned to make this pattern for the wedding I was attending in August. I had this pattern all ready to go, even had the toile done, in mid July, but I just couldn't find the right fabric! I know, that is crazy, since theoretically you could make this pattern in almost any fabric. I had this idea in my head of a drapey, floor length dress in a summery pattern, but everything I looked at was not drapey enough, not summery enough, or just too expensive to purchase 3.5 yards (or more, if it was a 44 inch fabric like many silks). I almost did it in the digital linen I made the Flora dress with, but at $30/yard I just couldn't get myself to spend over $100 just in fabric for this dress. I also was concerned that the linen would wrinkle and look dressed down, which isn't the look I was going for, and I didn't think underlining was going to work well for the Anna dress. Then there was this gorgeous blue crepe de chine, but it was strikingly similar to the fabric of my mom's dress... anyhow, the point is that the Anna got put aside.

As soon as we got back from the wedding, I was eager to sew up an Anna in whatever I could find from my stash. I decided on this gorgeous cotton shibori dot print cotton from Marcy Tilton (still on their website!). The fabric is even more lovely in person than in pictures... the dots are a bit dimensional from the dying process. The Anna is a departure from my usual silhouette-- as you've probably noticed, I love sheath dresses. But I'm working on at least exploring other shapes on my body. I figure that in a dark, quietly beautiful fabric, this dress might work for my work wardrobe as well as dressed up for the evening.

It was just barely possible to get all the pieces laid out with 2 yards of 50-55in fabric (the midi length calls for 2.5 yards of 60 inch fabric). If it had been any narrower, or directional, it wouldn't have been possible. There are only small scraps left!

It is actually a surprisingly heavy fabric, sort of a light twill weave, which might not have been ideal for the Anna. I made the problem even worse by deciding that I would make an all-in-one facing for the bodice, rather than the suggested facing- and since my order of black cotton batiste from Fabric.com refused to show up in a timely manner, I did it with self-fabric. And, I made it EVEN WORSE by deciding that I needed to interface, even though the directions called for nothing of the sort. No, I didn't choose a nice lightweight interfacing... I used organza.

In this particular case, I probably should have just stuck with the neck facing, possibly with a lightweight interfacing. But by the time I realized this, it was too late to go back.

The end result is that the bodice is a little more "structured" than is really necessary. It makes it so that the V neck is nice and sharp and unlikely to stretch out, which is a good thing. But it also made the kimono sleeves stand up like little wings. Therefore, I cut off most of the kimono sleeve and made the dress nearly sleeveless, which a actually sort of prefer, although I would give the sleeves another go if I make it in a more drapey fabric.

Back gape!

No back gape? or gape occuring lower down?

The other problem with the rather stiff bodice is that it points to possible fit problems. There seems to be gaping in the back sometimes-- it seems to depend on my posture. I think I would just take a bit out there for good measure, if I get to alterations. And while the shoulders fit well when standing, as soon as I sit down and forget about my posture, the shoulders of the dress feel like they are floating inches over my real shoulders. I think, if I were going to sit down and fix things, I might take in the shoulder seams half an inch or so. None of this was apparent in my muslin, which was done in nice soft muslin, and seemed to hug my body quite well. But, rather than taking it all apart and fussing over it, I think I am going to let things stand for now, and wash and wear it a few more times to see how it all settles in.

The benefit of the slightly heavy fabric is that it skims the body well and gives a nice line to my not-so-perfect post baby body. The fabric also has quite a lot of mechanical stretch, so it is very comfortable to wear.

I did make some pattern alterations. I lowered the v neckline about an inch, as many other bloggers have done. I also lowered the slit about 6 inches to make it more modest for wearing to work. Even before the stiff bodice problem, I cut about 1.5 inches off each of the kimono sleeves, they are just too long for my taste. I did my usual grading up a size for the waist and hips. Since the fabric doesn't ravel much, I didn't do any particular seam finishes, and I machine sewed the hem and slit.

I'm eager to try this dress again in something nice and drapey! It might be just the pattern for a particular silk that I have been hoarding for years... I wonder if I have enough of it to make the maxi version...? And if I do make this in silk, with a V neck, how should I finish the neckline? Perhaps I should follow the instructions, and just deal with the neck facing, but I have never met a neck facing that has stayed put despite understitching, topstitching and tacking. Maybe an all-in-one facing wouldn't affect the drape of the fabric so much if it was a softer fabric to begin with, and only interfaced just around the v-neck with a lightweight iron on or batiste-- it does also give such a nice clean look to the armhole, and it gives the option to make the neckline with no visible seams. Or should I risk a self-bias binding finish-- this would be lovely on a rounded neck, but I'm not sure I can get it to lay perfectly on a v-neck.

However, that will have to wait a bit since I have a bunch of projects lined up. Fall work wardrobe items are going to be needed rather soon. As soon as my fabric arrives (Marcy Tilton again! love her ponte selection right now), I'm planning 2-3 princess seamed ponte tops, and if that Fabric.com order ever arrives with my cotton batiste lining fabric, a navy linen sheath.

In addition, I've gotten excited about the Jacket sew along/contest at Marcy Tilton.com. I have always admired the Tilton jacket patterns but haven't yet sewn a single one. Vogue 8430 has been in my stash for years, and I just pulled it out last night. I also unburied a gorgeous felted, embroidered wool I have been saving for just this pattern, also from Marcy Tilton. I particularly love the innovative collars on their patterns. The versions made by Katherine and Marcy Tilton are all stunning, but I've been put off by the experiences of other sewists who find the pattern to run huge. I've seen some lovely artistic versions that drape beautifully, but others who sew the pattern seem to be buried in folds of fabric. But I think I can make it work... I was comparing the pattern to some of the other jackets I've fitted to my body, and I think with a few tweaks I can make something to my liking while preserving the uniqueness of the pattern. We'll see... if I am successful, you'll see it here, and if not, you'll see it here too!

Linen Floral BHL Flora Dress

When I was looking to make a dress for a wedding this summer, suddenly I understood why so many bloggers rave about By Hand London patterns. I had a really hard time choosing... I very nearly made a floor length Anna dress, but I just couldn't find the right fabric for it. I nearly had a gorgeous blue silk chosen, but when I saw the dress my mother was going to wear I noticed it was exactly the same shade, and I wasn't feeling like fielding comments all day long about how much we looked alike!

Then I saw the second view of the Flora dress and fell in love. I just love a good wrap dress (even a faux one). Bonus: no alterations need to make it nursing-mom friendly!

I also was dying for an excuse to purchase this digital print linen from Emmaonesock. The color palette just appealed to me and I love the texture of a nice linen. I'm also in love with it since the pattern emulates a narrow depth of field, with some flowers appearing sharply in focus against more blurred flowers in the background.

I was, however, really worried about having a wrinkled mess. A few light wrinkles provide a lovely texture, but I really didn't want deep creases forming at the waist and bum. I couldn't find anyone who had made a Flora dress in linen to be my guinea pig, so I did just about everything I could think of to keep the wrinkles under control. Before washing, I pressed with lots of steam... it might just be mythology, but some people seem to think it might help set the sizing into the fabric. I then washed it and dried it in a hot dryer, to soften the overall hand. More pressing, then I underlined the entire dress. I did this partly to help with the wrinkling, and partly to give the dress a little more body and structure. I was going to use silk organza, but my local shop didn't have any on hand so I came home with a cotton organdy. I was a little skeptical, but it was easy to work with and seems to have done the trick. I especially love how the skirt falls-- a bit flouncy, but not like I'm wearing a petticoat (and I did consider this also, could have been nice if I had decided not to underline the skirt).

Instead of using twill stay tape, I sewed elastic into the top edges of the wrap bodice, using the same technique that Sew Buzy Lizzy used on her blog. I sewed a channel by sewing the lining to the seam allowance and inserted a length of elastic about 1.5 inches shorter than the length of the channel, then secured it at the shoulder and waist. My thinking was that the elastic would allow bust access for nursing, while also helping to hold the bodice close to the body. It works pretty well... not much gaping, and nursing was a breeze.

I had to make a few alterations to the pattern. My bust size falls between a 12 and a 14, but I decided to go for the smaller size since I think the wrap bodice would look better a little tighter. I graded to a 14 at the waist, which was actually a bit of a trick since the bodice pattern wasn't nested. I traced off both the 12 and the 14 then did my best to capture the width of the 14 at the waist. I also found that I needed to add a bit of length to the front of the bodice to keep the waist seam level. Perhaps because I chose the smaller size, I had to move the bust darts (up? I can't remember which way). I didn't change the volume at all, but I just changed the angle so that the darts would point the the right place. I did all of this with a muslin of the bodice to check fit.

Once the adjustments were done it all went together very smoothly. I used the sew-along to help make sure I put things together in the right order. Everything just fit together like a puzzle, very satisfying.

I lined the bodice with  cotton voile and the skirt with rayon Bemberg. Enclosing the waist seam was a bit of a trick since the two wrap bodice pieces cross over each other, not allowing you to separate the lining from the shell fabric. I used the same method that Fiona used on her blog to enclose the waist seam, which just left the back seam along the zipper exposed, which I finished with packaged bias binding. I used my new invisible zipper foot for my Janome for the first time and that was by far the most painless zipper insertion ever.

I finished the seams in the skirt with bias binding, since I thought they might show and I don't have a serger. The hem is finished with grosgrain ribbon held with a machine blind hem stitch. I'd like to go back and do a hand blind hem stitch sometime because I think it would be a nicer finish, but I was in a rush to get the dress done.

You can also see in the pic above the little triangles I had to insert to complete the circle of the skirt. Of course the fabric I fell in love with was not a full 60 inches! I figured I'd just pattern match, perhaps even seaming the front panel right up the center, but I just could not figure out how to pattern match this fabric. It seems to be an engineered print with no repeat across the width of the fabric, and how to match something that needs more width totally baffles me-- perhaps it can't be done? Anyhow, I don't think my little triangles on the sides of the front panel are too big of a deal.

So the dress isn't perfect. I think the bodice is still a bit looser than I would like, and I left a bit of ease in the side seams that I might not need right now since I think I've lost a few pounds since I made the muslin. When my body stops changing so much, I'll see about taking in the side seams a bit, and I might have to do something about the bust, not sure what.

I love the dress! It is such fun to wear. I can't remember the last time I wore a circle skirt, it makes me feel like such a girl. I wore it this weekend to a milonga, and it was such fun twirling around the dance floor!

I'm sort of obsessed with By Hand London patterns right now. I have an Anna dress just about done, and I can't wait for them to release the PDF pattern of the Sophia dress... the sheath dress with angled darts is just my style. I was thinking about rotating the darts of my TNT sheath dress, but I also love the neckline of the BHL version. Also, don't you think the Flora would make a lovely peplum top using the other view of the bodice? I just might have to try it.