I bought 3 metres of this gorgeous viscose crepe fabric (originally bought from Fabric Godmother in July 2020 in probably long discontinued) but it sat in my stash for nearly 3 years before I could decide what to make with it! The problem was that I liked it so much that I didn’t want to waste it on something which didn’t show off the beautiful ‘ceramic tiles’ print, utilise its gorgeous drapey qualities, or which left too much wasted. I would regularly get the fabric out and pin it onto Doris in various ways to see if I could settle on anything in particular. I knew it had to have simple lines and I didn’t want complicated pattern matching to break up the design. In the last year I’ve made a number of LB Pullovers from Paper Theory and it occurred to me that the top was just the right shape to use for the bodice (minus the sleeves and collar) and then I could use what was left for a skirt.
Washed and ready for a three year wait….Four versions of the LB Pullover, so far
I used approximately 60cms for the bodice (I was able to place the front and back side by side across the width) and then everything that was left I cut into strips across the width following the ‘tile’ design. I had enough to make 3 tiers to the skirt and, ideally, each one would have been twice as long as the one above but there wasn’t really sufficient for that. I reckon the tiers were more like one and a half times as long so that would have to do.
I finished the neck edge with narrow binding which I managed to eke out of the remnants. I sewed a reasonable amount at the penultimate Herts Sewcial in early March and then finished the rest later at home. I was over-confident in the fit though because when I tried the finished dress on it was too big. I wanted slightly over-sized and my previous LBs were all a good fit but this crepe fabric had ‘grown’ a bit so I needed to bring the sides in to give it more shape. On the inside at the waist and running horizontally across the side seams I made a wide channel about 25cms long by 5cms through which I inserted elastic approximately 12cms long that pulled up enough for me to be happy with the effect. I finished the dress ready to take on holiday, our first cruise in more than 3 years.
Each tier is as deep as the tile print.
Happy Anniversary to us and cheers to 34 years married!In the fancy atrium of the shippratting about in the fancy atrium of the ship!It’s a bit hard to tell which is front or back so I sewed in this helpful Kylie and the Machine label
It might have taken nearly three years to get there but I’m really pleased with the final result and I know I’m going to enjoy wearing this dress in the coming months.
Do you dither as long as me about what to sew with fabric you love? I can’t be the only one who gets their various fabrics out periodically, strokes it, considers it, matches patterns to it and then folds it away again until next time!
Over on the @SewOver50 account recently I shared a few of my favourite ways to finish hems or raw edges, although course it is absolutely NOT a definitive list by any means. I thought I would expand a little here on the blog using more photos of projects I’ve made in recent years. They are in no particular order either and if I wrote a blog post about the whole garment then I’ve linked it so you can read more if you want to.
Obviously there are the usual hand-finished hems using slip hemming stitch or herringbone stitch for example, which I use a lot too, but I thought I’d share a few alternatives which you might not know, or haven’t used for a while.
I’m beginning here with a faced hem…
This was the hem of the first Refashioners project I attempted. It was a jacket made from two pairs of my husband’s old jeans and because I wanted to use as much of the reclaimed fabric as possible I cut shaped facings for the lower edge. As you can see I also finished the edge with bias binding I made from offcuts of dress fabric. The inside of the finished jacket looked like this. I understitched the lower edge of the facing to help it roll better and also slip-stitched it in various places including the seams and pocket bags to secure the facing without the stitching showing on the front. This is also a much more shaped facing on the hem of Tilly and the Buttons Orla blouse. This can be a beautifully neat finish on a curve, it gives some ‘weight’ and crispness to the hem too and makes it less likely to curl upwards on blouses for example. This Orla blouse was from 4 years ago, I like the exposed zip in the back too (the instructions for putting it in were excellent if I remember correctly)
The next one is an interesting hem finish which is very useful especially if you want a quality finish on evening or bridal wear. It uses something called ‘crin’, crinoline or horsehair braid (it doesn’t involve actual horsehair any longer though!) I’ve used it here on an organza skirt for the Dior New Look-inspired evening dress I made 4 years ago. As well as a crisp finish I wanted the hem to have distinct body and wave to it so this was the ideal technique. Crin comes in various widths, this was 5cms, lots of colours too because it’s more commonly used these days to trim hats and fascinators.
Helpfully, my fabric had horizontal stripes, some opaque and some sheer so I started by placing the crin on the front of the fabric and lining it up with the bottom edge of an opaque stripe. It is stitched on very close to the edge being careful not to stretch the crin as I sew, it’s important it lies flat. By sewing the crin onto the right side of the fabric when you flip it to the inside the raw edge of your fabric is enclosed underneath. To be honest I was making up the method as I went along because my experience of this technique previously came from altering wedding dresses which used it so this isn’t foolproof. I would strongly advise you to try a few samples first so that you have the version which looks best for your particular garment. [the eagle eyed amongst you might notice in my photo that I’ve sewn the crin to the wrong side of the fabric! I obviously did it and photographed it before realising what I’d done. As this was four years ago I don’t have any other photo!]Once the crin is turned up to the inside I slip-hemmed it by hand, it looks a bit messy on the inside because the black shows up but it’s absolutely fine on the right side. the finished dress, it’s one of my favourites I’ve ever made, and it’s a partial-refashion too because the velvet bodice used to be a skirt!
If you’re making a wedding dress for example and mounting all the skirt pieces onto another fabric, when you use crin on the hem (or bias binding for that matter) by hand-sewing the hem all your stitches will be invisible because you can catch them just through the mounting fabric. This is a couture technique so if you look at red carpet dresses with no visible stitching at the hem this will be how they achieved it. You can apply it as appropriate to any garment that you’ve mounted to another fabric though.
The next couple of photos are where I’ve used bias binding to neaten a hem. I find this a really useful technique if you need the maximum amount of hem because you can sew a very small seam allowance. It’s good if you’re letting down hems to gain length too, on trousers or children’s clothing for example.
Sew the binding on very close to the raw edge, this was a Simple Sew Lizzie dress Here I made my own binding which is first sewn on with a 5mm seam allowance and then understitched which is what you see here. I made this Grainline Farrow dress for a magazine reviewThe hem is turned up and I’ve slipstitched it in place by hand.This is the same technique with ready-made bias binding.the finished skirt.My final example is the little christening gown I made from a wedding dress.
If you have fine fabric why not consider using your overlocker if you have one on the rolled hem setting? Refer to your manual for specific instructions how to adjust your machine and make samples first to ensure it’s going to be satisfactory for your particular fabric. You’ll frequently see it used on chiffon or georgette but I’ve used it successfully here on fine cotton lawn, jersey and a stretch velour. If you don’t have an overlocker you can probably achieve a similar finish on your sewing using a rolled hem foot ideally and a small zigzag stitch-as always I would urge you to experiment to see what is possible. Some of the simplest machines can still give you an interesting variety of finishes.
This is one of my variations on the Camber Set I roll-hemmed a straight strip of fabric here which I then pleated onto the sleeve using a fork! I roll-hemmed a straight strip top and bottom and gathered it onto the sleeve here. An extended length sleeve on the River pattern from Megan Nielsen, roll-hemmed and elasticated
I find the next couture/tailoring technique very useful on sleeves as well as coat, jacket or dress hems. I’ve used it here on my Tilly and the Buttons tester-made Eden. I wasn’t taught this method as such, I discovered it for myself whilst doing alterations taking up sleeves for people. I haven’t ever encountered it in pattern making instructions but I think it’s an excellent way of stabilising the cuffs of coats and jackets.
Using strips of iron-on interfacing to stabilise the area where the cuffs fold upThis is felted-type woollen fabric where hand stitching is unlikely to show through but if you have a finer fabric I would make the interfacing strip wider so that I then caught the inter with my stitches and not the fabric itself. See the next photo to explain this better.You can see the interfacing is above the hem line here and I’ve herringbone stitched it by hand. You can also see how I’ve created a chain link to anchor the lining to vent opening on the back of the skirt.the hemming stitches aren’t visible from the outside using this technique.
For this next finish I’ve used a triple straight stitch to create the effect of top stitching on the hem, and several seams, of this Simple Sew Zoe hack I made last summer.
If you have the foot attachment and stitch capability for your sewing machine you can always try blind-hemming. I must admit I don’t use it that often, and only then on completely straight hems. There is a bit of a knack to it and I tend to only use it on a busy print which will disguise any botched bits (yes really!) or if I’m tight for time compared with any other method. It’s not quite the same quality of finish you will see on RTW clothes though which uses a specific machine to blind stitch the hem.
Personally I always think the stitches show a bit too much no matter how hard I try to get them really tiny. It’s very easy to catch a bit too much fabric, or none at all! In truth I probably don’t practice enough!!This Regatta dress from Alice & Co was an ideal application because the skirt has a straight, unshaped hem.
I think it’s worth mentioning that I like to use bias binding to neaten necklines (and armholes) too. I particularly like this as a way of avoiding using a neck or armhole facing which can be notorious for constantly rolling into view or flapping about annoyingly. The version you can see in the following two applications is a strip which I’ve folded in half lengthways first, the raw edges are matched and sewn. The seam is trimmed slightly and snipped if necessary, then turned so that the edge is enclosed and finally topstitched close to the folded edge to secure. In both the following examples I have sewn the binding on the wrong side of the fabric so that the binding turns to the outside to be visible and decorative but you could just as easily sew it to the right side so that it turns to the inside of the finished garment.
the binding is sewn on the inside firstthe binding then flips to the outside to become visible.This dress was made for the Simplicity pattern hacking challenge last yearInstead of the usual hem on this dress I created a casing which I threaded elastic through.
I’ve have included another variation of binding on a hem to show you how it can be combined with other techniques to achieve a quality finish. I used it here on a sheer organza which was mounted onto a backing fabric of slipper satin. This meant that when I turned the hem up the hand-stitching was invisible from the outside because the stitches only went through the mounting fabric.
the hem from the insidethe finished hem from the outside.the finished dress, I was off to a wedding!
The next technique is more usually the choice of the pattern designer than the dressmaker, although if you know a little about pattern cutting you might be able to do it for yourself. This is an example of a deep grown-on faced hem on the Trend Patterns Square dress which I’ve made twice. It works brilliantly on this dress because the hem edges are straight (square!) plus it gives real weight to the hem which is another satisfying detail.
Inside the hem the corners are mitred.
Pin hemming is a technique I’ve used for decades on fine fabrics. You can replicate it using a rolled hem foot attachment on your machine although it can be trial and error which size works best for you with variable results. I have two different sizes of foot, 2mm and 4mm and I can’t get on with either, I’ve since been told that 3mm is the optimum size for most fabrics but I’m not prepared to risk another mistake when I know I can achieve a good quality result this way instead.
Simply put, I turn over the raw edge by approximately 5mm and stitch very close to the folded edge. Carefully trim the excess close to the stitching line and give it a light press. Then turn again and stitch a second time on top of the first row of stitching. This particular example is from the Trend Bias T-shirt dress I made a few months ago.
turn stitch and trimmake another narrow hem, stitch a second time on top of the first line. Press. There will only be one row of stitching visible on the outside.
If you read about my pattern hack of the Simple Sew Cocoon dress you will see how this variation of hemming came about. I added a large chunk of fabric to give extra length to a dress that would have been too short without it. This method is probably best on a straight hem, you could use it on sleeves too.
attaching a band to the hem. The finished dress (worn with walking shoes during lockdown!)
This next one is a very much trial and error. I used an edging stitch on my Pfaff sewing machine to hem this Broderie Anglaise blouse which I made recently.
I put a piece of Stitch and Tear behind the fabric as I sewed.It looked like this after I finishedIt will look like this on the reverse.gently pull away the backing and then carefully snip off the excess fabric up to the stitching line.Eventually the hem looked like this, the sleeves are trimmed with Broderie Anglaise
I’ve used a variation of a faced hem recently when, instead of bias binding, I used straight strips of fabric to turn up a straight hem on a dirndl skirt. There will be a blog of this particular garment coming soon…
I had some narrow strips of white cotton lawn lying around so I joined them to make a piece long enough to go around the whole hem. I folded the strip lengthwise.attach the strip to the hem, raw edges together.I understitched it, plus there’s a band on the front which is what you can see folded over in order to enclose the facing eventually.The band folds back to enclose the hem facing.There’s a little bit of puckering on the reverse here but this is invisible from the front, a good press will sort that out.
To finish with is a very simple method of rolling a fairly narrow hem. Overlock the edge first using three (or even two) threads then carefully turn it once and then again so that the overlocking is enclosed inside. If the fabric is quite ‘bouncy’ and won’t stay in position you could press the edge over once first and then roll it the second time. Whilst the result is wider than pin hemming it is narrower, and possibly quicker and more accurate, than a simple turned hem.
Stitching the hem with the overlocked edge rolled to the inside.
This last suggestion is from a project which will be blogged very soon. I cut 6cms wide bias strips which I used to create a self-neatening hem on a pair of pyjama shorts.
the bias strips were applied right side to wrong side on the shorts hems.the bias strip is on the inside at the momentIt is then turned up to the outside where I trimmed and stitched it with ricrac braid.
I hope you’ve found my suggestions useful or thought provoking, is there something here which you’ve never encountered before, or that’s made you think how you could use a technique you already know in a different way? The idea is to show you a few ways of finishing hems, or raw edges, in new and interesting ways. I’ve not included the usual hand stitching methods because there’s nothing new to think about, although please let me know if you use these methods in a more unusual application. Just because the pattern instructions tell you to finish the hem a certain way doesn’t necessarily mean you have to do it that way…although think it through carefully just in case the really is a reason!
The Sidewinder pants are my third make using a pattern from The Sewing Revivalfollowing on from several versions of their Heron dress and Bellbird top. I’ve already written reviews of them which you can read about here and here, plus I made a new version of the Bellbird at the recent Sewing Weekender in Cambridge, organised by The Fold Line.
The Sidewinders are a very simple pull-on trouser pattern with a tapered leg but their USP is the diagonal side seam which gives them such an interesting ‘twist’. They are flat-fronted with an elasticated back waist and of course there are pockets in the seams too. There are variations at the hem too as you can choose plain full-length, 7/8ths with turn-ups like mine or use wide elastic to gather the hem into cuffs. As you can see from the artwork they could be very casual or dressed up with heels, fabrics with a bit of body but some drape and softness are suggested. Like the other Sewing Revival patterns these are PDFs so you can buy, download and print your pattern any time, or have them printed for you on A0.
As I’ve come to expect with SR patterns the instructions and illustrations are very clear and personally I’ve always found their sizing very good too. I cut the large based on my measurements although I did decide to shorten the leg length very slightly as I didn’t want them ‘pooling’ around my ankles too much, the idea is that they sit above the ankle bone. The instructions tell you what length of elastic to cut for the back waist which you can then adjust to suit.
For the first pair I used some Royal blue crepe fabric which was leftover from the Trend Asymmetric dress I made last year. If you’re using a plain fabric these trousers are surprisingly economical to cut and if you’re short of fabric you could cut the pocket bags and waist band facings from other fabrics too. You could have fun with stripes or checks to give them a bit of a Vivienne Westwood vibe but you’d need more fabric for that. What about using ribbon or piping down the side seam for emphasis?
Construction is very quick, I’d say that this could be a half-day project if you aren’t getting fancy with pattern-matching. I really like the way that the waistband is a facing because when it folds over the top it secures the pocket bags in place, you only need to neaten the lower edges of them. The elastic gets slotted through the back channel which extends slightly around to the front beyond the ‘normal’ side seam position. Once this is stitched in place you sew down the facing at the front. This line of stitching isn’t near the edge, it’s approximately 3.5-4cms away depending on the width of your elastic so use a guide of some kind to keep it parallel, I always use the quilting guide which comes with my machine or you could use Washi tape or similar stuck onto the bed (I’m not keen on this personally as I wouldn’t any sticky residue near my fabrics but I know others use this method)
These are the second pair which I made at the Weekender and that is why some of the overlocking is different colours.
As I said earlier I’ve made both versions with a small turn-up so once I’ve turned them up I stitched through seam lines of the inner and outer leg seams to hold the turn-up securely in position.
You’ll notice from the grey version that I contrast top-stitched in pink either side of the outer leg seams to give some emphasis to the diagonal seam, I like how it goes ‘off’ at the hem.
The blue pair are sooo comfortable because the crepe fabric has quite a bit of natural give, and the back elastic gives a nice snug fit without being too tight. My blouse here is a longtime favourite, the Imogen from Sew Me Something There was enough fabric to make a belt which ended up being massively long so it goes round twice into a big bow!And these are the grey pair which I teamed with the second garment I started (but didn’t finish!) at the Weekender which is anotherSewingRevival Bellbirdmade in a very lightweight woven check cotton which I picked up on a swap table somewhere last year. The label was given to us by lovely Harriet of Sew me Sunshine which is a really nice reminder of what I made and where!
Janine at The Sewing Revival generously provided me with the pattern for the Sidewinders and I’ve been more than happy to write a review because I love these trousers! I’m planning to make more for the winter and I’ll definitely give a gathered ankle pair a try too.
After a few weeks of sewing for others, writing (and then completely rewriting the Sew Over 50 birthday blog post because I lost ALL 4000+ words!!!!) and being away from home it’s lovely to get back to a bit of sewing for myself and sharing my thoughts with you. I’m so happy that I discovered The Sewing Revival as a result of our first Sew Over 50 challenge at the beginning of the year, did you find any new patterns brands as a result too, that was certainly our hope.
The Sewing Revival are a small PDF pattern company based in New Zealand and I first discovered them through the first Sew Over 50 challenge at the beginning of the year. Since then I’ve made 4 (!) versions of their Heron dress and top, 2 dresses and a top for me and one top for my SiL for her birthday. I really like the simple but stylish aesthetic, coupled with the fact they can be quick to make which is a real ‘palette-cleanser’ if you’ve been doing some more complex projects beforehand.
The Bellbird is basically a T-shaped top with dolman sleeves but it’s USP is the wide gathered cuffs on the short sleeves. You can choose between a scoop or a V neck, I’ve made the V.
It probably works best in a fabric with a bit of drape like crepe-de-chine, a soft viscose or fine linen, I used (eventually after a lot of going through the stash to find the right quantity!) a sheer polyester chiffon of unknown provenance. It wasn’t quite enough to cut the front and the back both on folds so the front went on the fold and the back went on the selvedges so there’s a seam. Also, because of the sheer nature of the fabric I opted not to use the neck facings but I made some bias binding to finish off the neck instead.
It’s very important to stabilise the neck edge as soon as possible so that it doesn’t stretch out of shape. I ran a row of stay stitches 5mm from the neck edge front and back-you could also use stay-tape or iron-on stabiliser if it isn’t going to show. Next I joined the shoulders using French seams as the fabric is so sheer, it gives a better quality of finish and makes the seams a little bit stronger too as they are sewn twice in this method. you could use a tiny flat-felled seam here if you wish but I think that’s taking things a bit far for a polyester chiffon!
I decided to use the French binding method which involves cutting bias strips which are at least twice as wide as you need plus seam allowances, making sure it was plenty long enough to go right around the neck with some extra to spare. Join the strips in the usual way if you need to and press the seams open before you fold the strip in half lengthways and press all along the folded edge so that you have a long continuous strip of folded bias binding. Next, I wanted the binding to show on the right side of the fabric so this means you need to pin the cut edges of the binding together to the neck edge ON THE WRONG SIDE. When you sew it on around the neck edge the binding will flip to the OUTSIDE thus enclosing the raw edges inside itself. The photo above shows where I’ve sewn the bias on, I’ve under-stitched it on the inside and then flipped it to the outside and now it’s pinned down. Finally I topstitched it down on the outside. Overall I’m happy with how this turned out because the chiffon is very very wiggly and you’ll need to be a bit patient with yourself if it’s the first time you’ve attempted a fabric like this. Take each step slowly and tack or baste as you go if you’re in any doubt about your ability to sew just using pins.
Once the neck is sewn it’s a case of joining the underarm seams, also using French seams, and then making the casing to enclose the elastic. This is the ‘detail’ of the Bellbird top so try and use wide elastic and don’t make it too tight on your arms as this is gives the best effect. Finally, finish off by making the hem.
I know chiffon isn’t exactly an ‘every day’ fabric but I’ve worn this top twice already now-albeit with a cami underneath as it’s sheer-and it’s very comfy. It droops backwards off my shoulders a little but I find that’s often the case with V necks on me when the garment is loose-fitting. I might try the scoop neck next time to see how that is. It’s designed to be a fairly close fit over the hips, not loose and floaty, I made a size large and it’s perfect for me. The Sewing Revival patterns come in selection of size brackets and you choose the set closest to you personal measurements. If you fall between sizes I think I’d advise going for the size nearest your bust measurement and altering the hip to suit.
Have you tried any other Sewing Revival patterns? There are some new ones just out including an interesting pair of diagonal-seamed trousers which are very intriguing so I’m sure these won’t be the last patterns of theirs that I’ll review.
Summer is (allegedly) on it’s way at last and so my sewing thoughts turn to summery frocks. On that optimistic basis I decided on the Kaftan top and dress as my next Simple Sew blogger review and this time we have Doughty’s Online as one of our generous fabric sponsors too. I have to confess I wasn’t familiar with them but when I checked out their website I was very impressed with their wide selection of fabrics available. I chose this beautiful digitally-printed cotton lawn by Lady McElroy fabrics in a design called ‘Scottish Emblem’ and it’s lovely quality, similar to Liberty Tana lawn I’d say.
Before I cut into the lawn I decided to make the top version in some georgette that was languishing in my stash. I’d bought it ages ago in the Birmingham Rag Market without a project in mind, I wrote post about that visit which you can read here.
I’ve made my last few Simple Sew makes in size 14 based on my measurements and this one was no different. Georgette is quite wiggly so my advice is to take your time laying it up, tear the cut ends to get a really straight edge and use the edges of the table to give you a visual ‘marker’ to lay the fabric up as straight as possible. You can even layer it between spot-and-cross paper but that’s longwinded and uses up your paper. Georgette is also sheer and frays quite badly so I used French seams throughout. The pattern calls for bias binding on the neckline and sleeves but that would be too heavy on georgette so I simply pin-hemmed them instead.
This revealed a bit of an issue with the depth of the V!
Crumbs! I’ll need a vest under this!
It all went a bit pair-shaped at this point because I got in a right two-and-eight with the buttonholes and the casing for the waist. I wasn’t happy with the position I sewed the buttonholes (according to the pattern) although in the end after a lot of messing about I left them where they were and made the casing wider around them but narrower for the rest. I found the instructions a bit confusing so I urge you to take each stage carefully and take into consideration how wide your ribbon/cord/elastic is when making the buttonhole openings and make the channel only as wide or narrow as you need it to be, not necessarily the width marked on the pattern.
Once I was happy with this first version I went ahead and cut out the full-length one in my lovely cotton lawn. It has a large repeat which is a one way design although not with an obvious up or down-in other words, everything must be cut going the same way but it didn’t matter which way that is. Just before I cut it I noticed when I placed the CB bodice on the fold that the neck edge isn’t quite ’true’ which would result in a slight point in the centre of the neck. It isn’t difficult to correct this.
If you don’t have a Patternmaster use something with a right-angle corner like this envelope to straighten up the line.
the new line is where you need to cut.
One other change I made before I cut was to raise up the V so it wouldn’t be as revealing as the georgette one!
Stick an extra piece of paper behind matching the CF line with a new line on the paper behind. Stick it down with tape.
Decide how much you want to raise the V and draw in a new line so that it blends smoothly with the original.
There’s a seam in the centre front so mark the seam allowance with a notch
The back goes on the fold and the front can go against the selvedge, the same way up in this case.
Because the fabric is a one-way design I needed to cut each skirt piece one above the other instead of interlocking them. Instead of simply folding the fabric in half and wasting two strips down each edge I folded it like this and then there’s useable piece left for something else!
It was just a case of putting everything together like before, the difference this time is that I added self-fabric bias binding to the neck, I also stay-stitched the neck edges to prevent them stretching before I sewed the bias on. First join the shoulder seams then…
I cut a strip of bias binding which I folded and pressed in half lengthways first. For this method place the it with cut edges matching on the WRONG SIDE of the fabric, sew on with a 5mm seam allowance.
Trim the seam down to 2-3mm
Press the seam towards the bias, the second row of stitching you can see is the stay-stitching.
Turn the bias to the RIGHT SIDE and stitch carefully and neatly close to the edge like this. Now you can join the CF seam together. I learned that this technique is called French binding which I never knew before-every day is a day in school!
Before I joined the under arm seams I added some lovely pom-poms which I’d bought in Liberty especially.
I sewed it on using a zigzag stitch because it’s difficult to get close as the pom-poms get in the way. You could probably use a straight stitch and a zip foot here too.
I cut the pom-poms carefully so that there wouldn’t be one caught in the seam.
The reverse of the pom-poms
I added a fancy leaf design stitch on my Pfaff to edge it with.
I tried the bodice on and decided that the neck needed the pom-pom trim too, I wasn’t originally going to put it here but the neckline looked a bit plain against my pasty white skin!
I pinned it on in two different ways and eventually settled on just around the V
Because I’d bought a very narrow cord to put around the waist I made very small horizontal round-ended buttonholes instead of the larger vertical ones indicated on the pattern. Attach the skirt and make the casing for the cord according to the instructions and you’re almost there.
I pulled the cord through using a useful old-fashioned tool called a bodkin. Clamp the cord (or elastic) between the ‘teeth’ at the end and slide the small metal loop up towards the teeth until it’s tight and the cord can’t come loose. Then you just push the cord through the channel.
I opted to leave a knee-high split in one of the side seams. The sun came out so Doris posed outside!
I eventually finished the georgette version too, I used a shoelace from an old pair of my husband’s shoes in the casing because it was a perfect colour-match! I cut off the ends and embellished them with a few colourful buttons.
I hemmed this one by using the rolled hem setting on my overlocker. It definitely needs a vest under it though!
The kaftan will be a lovely cover-up on holiday in the summer and as I chose the cotton lawn it will be decent enough to go out in public and not just by the pool on hot days too! It would work well in a drapey viscose or look glamorous in a slinky crepe de chine, or a lightweight jersey like interlock. The short version would look nice in a Broderie Anglaise or Swiss Dot too. Instead of the pom-poms you could embellish it using Indian or Chinese-type braid, ribbon or even beading, you could put elastic through the casing too instead of cord or ribbon.
Thank you especially to our new fabric partners Doughty’s Online for supplying my choice of cotton lawn, it’s been lovely to work with and I’m looking forward to being able to wear it…soon, I hope!
Susan Young Sewing 