Viki Sews Patterns Courtney Dress - Top Hack

I rarely purchase sewing patterns as I much prefer hacking the ones I already own or self-drafting patterns from scratch in order to create a pattern that matches the design I have in mind. Sewing patterns are also expensive, so I prefer to only buy ones that I know I'll make again and again (like my Lander Pants) or that I wouldn't be able to draft myself (such as the Dawn Jeans). However, when Viki Sews patterns had a flash 50% sale a few months ago I decided to purchase and download a few patterns, including the Courtney Dress. 

The design of the bodice is what drew me to the Courtney Dress pattern. I've seen quite a few tops with corset-y designs recently, in other words lots of seams and a fairly close fitting bodice. What I liked about this design is that the bodice has an extra level of detail which made this top a bit different. I also immediately pictured this pattern in a floral fabric for summer, I thought flowers would compliment the feminine design. Craft Cotton Co have such a wide range of floral cotton fabrics that it took me a long time to decide which one to go for. Most dressmaking patterns call for drapey or stretchy fabrics, so it was nice to make something out of cotton as there are so many lovely cotton prints available My only brief is that I wanted a pretty floral and in the end I went for this rayon linen fabric which was exactly what I had in mind. Much like cotton the linen held its shape perfectly when it came to the bodice construction, and interfacing helped to ensure that the upper bodice stands upright.

The first thing to note about Viki Sews patterns is that they are a Russian company. Although they have recently launched some patterns in English, the ones I purchased were all in Russian. It isn't just a challenge for the instructions, I actually found the website itself quite hard to navigate in a different language. Google translate is definitely a big help, although I found that the app's camera feature wasn't much use when it came to deciphering which pattern piece was which. In the end, the actual sewing process wasn't any harder for the lack of English instructions as the photo diagrams are really clear and even without those I would have been able to guess the order of construction. The main difficulty lay in labelling each pattern piece, but now that I've made this top I have my pattern pieces labelled in English for next time. Overall it was fun to try out a new pattern company which has some interesting and slightly different designs, especially as their patterns are very affordable - I paid £2.50 for 3 patterns thanks to the sale!

I always like to add topstitching to makes and the seams of this pattern were perfect for doing that. The topstitching adds a really neat finish and also forces the seams to lie flat. I really love how all the features of this make tie in together, having thin straps adds a delicate feel to the bodice which is mimicked by the pretty flowers on the fabric.

As mentioned the pattern is actually drafted as a dress, but I thought I'd get more wear out of mine as a top which I could pair with jeans (I'm wearing it with my balloon jeans in these photos). Simply cutting the top at the waist seam would have made it too short and the proportions a bit off, so I decided to add pleats to the bottom. I'm not usually a big fan of pleats and ruffles but I think the pleats work really well here. The rayon linen was a joy to sew with as it pressed so well, meaning that the pleats and hem are really even and neat.

To finish the top I added an invisible zip down the centre back, my preferred closure for makes. I'm pretty pleased with how invisible the zip is and I think that another closure such as buttons would have been too busy, detracting from the fabric and bodice details. The only thing I didn't think about when I changed the pattern to a top is that the zip can only be as long as the bodice so won't open as far down. I didn't realise this was a problem until right at the end, when it turned out to be a bit of a squeeze getting the width of the waist seam over my shoulders! I'm torn between redoing the zip as an open ended zip (which would take time and I also don't like the look of open ended zips compared to invisible ones) or just accepting that this top takes a while to get on and off.

When I first started making this top summer weather seemed like a long way away and the holidays felt even more distant. Now, I've finished my exams and the sun is shining so I'm looking forward to getting lots of wear out of my finished make!

How to Upcycle and Refashion Old Clothes

Upcycling is a great way to make a new garment without having to purchase fabric, and also gives old clothes a new lease of life. Using old clothes gives me the freedom to self-draft a pattern without worrying about wasting fabric if it turns out badly. As well as upcycling old RTW clothes, refashioning old makes is also a great way to reuse fabrics. I often do this with clothes that I sewed a few years ago that weren't terribly well made, or that I no longer wear because my style has changed. Below is a round up of the garments that I've upcycled as well as tips on how to completely transform old clothes.

Hadley Top (made from old jeans)

I had to begin with my refashioned Hadley Top as it remains my favourite and proudest upcycling project three years on - and I won a prize at the Knitting and Stitching Show for it! Jeans are the place to start when it comes to upcycling old clothes; they're easy to find in charity shops and denim is a nice stable fabric to sew with. The only tricky thing about using jeans as fabric is their width, so sewing projects with panels are ideal. For this top I used several different jeans to give a variety of denim shades and hacked my pattern into triangular pieces that were small enough to cut from the denim. Another thing I love about using old jeans is being able to keep their old features such as topstitching and pocket marks which I've incorporated throughout this top.

Button-down Skirt (made from old jeans)

This skirt was my first upcycling project and shows another use for old jeans. With this project I only used one pair of jeans, but they were large enough to provide quite a bit of fabric. The skirt I made features several panels to allow for the fabric width. 

When it comes to using old clothes pattern placement can be tricky depending on areas where the fabric is faded or stained. In this case, the jeans had a hole in them that I wasn't able to avoid as I didn't have enough fabric. To get around this I added a strip of fabric down the front, which covers up the hole and adds a decorative detail. The same could be achieved with a patch or visible mending. 

Ruched Top (made from a long-sleeved t-shirt)

When looking in charity shops for clothes to upcycle, it's best to focus on the fabric and not the style of the garment. Look for something which is too big and a fabric that you can imagine wearing. My dad gave me this grey long-sleeved t-shirt which is pretty uninteresting, but I knew that the plain fabric would be a good one to work with. Because the t-shirt was far too big for me I had enough fabric to turn it into a long-sleeved top for myself with an added ruched detail down the front.

Stripy Vest Top (made from this turtleneck)

Whilst buying clothes from a charity shop is a great way to start upcycling and means you can buy clothes with large pieces of fabric, upcycling old makes to ensure that the fabric isn't wasted. I made this turtleneck when I first started sewing and enjoyed wearing it at the time but decided to make it into a vest top once I no longer wore it. This is a great way of reusing old fabric that you still like and means you get a whole new garment from nothing.

Raindrop T-shirt (previously this raindrop top)

The top on the left is one that I was really proud of when I first made it but wasn't wearing anymore a couple of years later. At the time I really liked the curved detail and was just starting to hack patterns, but I realised later that I would get more wear out of a simple t-shirt. In fact short-sleeved t-shirts are a great option for refashioning as they don't require a lot of fabric and - in my experience - get a lot of wear. 

Zip-neck Jumper (previously this zip-neck jumper)

I mainly refashion clothes that I no longer like the style of, but upcycling also works really well for makes that don't turn out as anticipated. Sewing failures are inevitable, and I often leave move onto a new project and leave the less successful ones to quietly occupy space in my wardrobe. This zip-neck jumper didn't turn out the way I was hoping, the fit was strange and the zip insertion wobbly. A year later I unpicked the entire thing and remade it into this top and it's safe to say that the second version has been worn much more. The lack of fabric the second time round forced me to add in different panels and seams which are now my favourite features of the jumper, 

Needlecord Skirt (updated from this skirt)

Refashioning doesn't have to mean a full transformation into a different type of garment. I really liked the burgundy needlecord fabric that my Delphine Skirt was made of but it didn't feel causal or summery enough to be worn often. I refashioned it by adding on trapezoid pockets and taking up the hem and it's now the skirt I reach for whenever it's hot out.

Burgundy Anima Pants (made from pyjama trousers)

Upcycling tends to connote a full transformation but just changing the size of a garment to make it fit you counts. The large grey t-shirt that I turned into this top came with a pair of pyjama bottoms which were also perfect for upcycling. I deconstructed the trousers entirely and used the same front and back pieces to cut new front and backs in my size. This doesn't always work as there has to be enough fabric but in omitting the pockets and using the original waistband I was able to make myself some joggers.

Corduroy Flares (previously these corduroy jeans)

This is one of my favourite transformations that I've done. I had no idea whether or not it would work out but I love the final result. Despite being very proud of my Dawn Jeans I wasn't really wearing them as I didn't love the length or the leg style. I hacked them into flares by inserting triangular pieces of fabric into the side seams and I'm so pleased with the how they turned out. My one disappointment is that the flares aren't longer, but I didn't have enough fabric left (the most frustrating thing in refashioning!).

Upcycling continues to be something that I enjoy doing, it's an easy way to try new sewing techniques and turn something unworn into something completely different. It's nice to think that with some of these makes I might be adding in a third transformation depending on how my style continues to evolve.

Sewing Leftovers - Burnt Orange T-Shirt

 

Whilst the opposite is currently the case, I sometimes go through phases of having nothing to sew. It's something that I really hate, and is often a combination of not really needing any more clothes and the fact that I sew quite quickly. Also, the weather was appalling here for most of May and making summer clothes seemed pointless. But sewing is my hobby, it's something that brings me a lot of joy and makes me feel calm, so it's important for me to always have a project on the go that I can work on when I have the time and inclination to do so. If I do find myself with nothing to sew, I try and go through my fabric stash and find fabrics that I haven't yet used or old projects that need upcycling. It doesn't always work, especially as I try not to keep too much unused fabric around, but it's often a good way to get back into the swing of sewing. 

I like to think of leftover fabric as 'free' fabric, giving me the freedom to make whatever I want without worrying about whether the project will be successful. It's fabric that would otherwise just take up space and because I've already used it to make something else, there often isn't much left. My absolute favourite leftover make is my corduory jacket, but my cami top and denim Moss Skirt were also good scrapbusters.

I actually started making this top a couple of months ago before it was cast away in favour of making prom dresses (more on that to come!) and picked it up again the other day to finish it off. It's a really simple t-shirt, ideal as I didn't have a lot of fabric and also the kind of thing that will get a lot of wear. I've found that I'm hesitant to wear some of my handmade clothes when I'm doing an activity such as sport that risks damaging them, so it's good to have a well-made t-shirt that didn't take much time or money to make. My stripy t-shirt is a good example of a similar garment that I don't worry about getting dirty or destroyed (which I realise is pretty unlikely but it still goes through my mind!) wheras I'm more cautious when wearing tops such as my polo shirt which took much longer to make.

When it comes to sewing with leftovers, I don't worry much about having several garments from the same fabric. Often, if the two makes are made a couple of years apart, my style will have changed and they will be quite different. With neutral fabrics it's hard to tell that two items of clothing are made from the same fabric unlike with a bold print. For example, my black Lander Pants and this Moss Skirt are made from the same fabric but it doesn't cross my mind when I wear one of them. Likewise, the leftovers from my corduroy Dawn Jeans were used to make this jacket but they're very different garments. I've actually used the same white cotton jersey for four different makes including this jumper, this long-sleeved top and this sleeveless one.

The fabric I used to make this t-shirt was the leftover from my mum's burnt orange Linden Top which I made her for Christmas 2018. She has worn all four of the Lindens that I've made her a lot, although I think the orange one is her favourite. I really like the fabric and have wanted to make something from its leftovers for a while, so I'm pleased to have finally done so. Of course, there is now a chance that we both wear our orange tops at the same time but I'm sure one of us would quickly change!

I will never cease being driven crazy by stitches that snap in the hems of handmade tops - one day I'll get a coverstitch machine, but until then I'll have to live with it. When it came to hemming this t-shirt, I thought I'd try something a bit different and use the triple zigzag stitch on my new sewing machine. Three stitches are sewn for each line in the zigzag, meaning that the line of stitching stretches with the jersey fabric and hopefully avoids the threads snapping. I added the same stitch to the neck and sleeve hem too, which I both finished with a neckband. I probably won't use this on every t-shirt going forward as I like the look of a straight hem, but it works well here and also adds a nice decorative touch.

A Week of Handmade Outfits - Summer 2021

Back in 2017 I did a round up of the handmade clothes that I brought with my on my summer holidays. Whilst I always intended to write another post like that, I somehow never got round to it. I always love seeing how people wear their handmade clothes and I know that the way I wear mine everyday isn't necessarily the same way that I photograph them for the blog post, so I thought it would be nice to do a roundup of a week of handmade outfits from time to time.

These photos give a more accurate depiction of the makes that I actually wear on a daily basis, and it's also a nice way for me to showcase the things that I made years ago. Although it's always fun to write-up new garments on my blog, to me sewing is about wearing the clothes that I make and this series should hopefully express that more clearly. I will add that it isn't always easy taking photos of my outfits! I'm sharing 5 handmade outfits that I've worn recently but they are by no means the only handmade clothes that I've worn over the last few weeks - I tend to wear something me-made most days.

True Bias Shelby Dress

The weather has been variable to say the least over the last few weeks but we have had some sunshine! It's often too cold for me to wear my summer dresses so they're the first thing I reach for during a heatwave. I made this floral Shelby Dress last summer and I still love it just as much, I'd definitely like to make another.

White Twist Top and Floral Midi Skirt

My other favourite heatwave make is my viscose midi skirt that I made last year. I'd never worn a midi skirt before making this one and I was unsure of how much wear I'd get out of it, but it's quickly become one of my all time favourite makes. I love the pretty fabric and its loose and flowy, making it ideal for summer heat.

I've started wearing it mainly with the white twist top that I made in 2019. I had no idea how successful this top would be when I made it but I wear it all the time - it's literally falling apart! You can see from photos of my gingham Lander pants, black joggers and checked Anima pants that it pairs well with everything. 

Sherpa Jacket

I've continued to frequently wear this jacket since making it, and though it may seem like a strange choice for summer it's been a great one to wear on cooler days. My newer corduroy jacket has also seen a lot of wear recently and I'll try and take some photos of that one next time.

Pink Fluffy Jacket

On the subject of jackets, I thought this photo of my pink fluffy jacket paired with RTW clothes sums up the way I wear my handmade clothes quite well. Rather than aiming for a fully handmade wardrobe I enjoy wearing things I've made with clothes I've bought. As for this jacket, it's probably my least worn make out of this list but not because I don't love it - it's pretty 'out there' but always makes me smile.

Button-up jersey top

This t-shirt is one of my most worn makes ever. It's another one that I made in 2019 but continue to wear now. I think its success is based on the fact that the style is very 'me', it's the kind of thing that I wear on an everyday basis because it's so easy to throw on and I really like it.

Like I mentioned at the start this is by no means a full list of all the handmade outfits I've worn recently and I'm determined to photograph my other favourites! Some of the other handmade items that I've worn a lot over the last couple of months include my Balloon Jeans, my Dawn Jeans, my Gingham Trousers, this zip-up hoodie and these tops.

DIY Tie Strap Top

Sometimes the most simple projects are the most enjoyable and can give the best outcomes. Sleeveless tops seem to fit best into this category, and for me they have the combined bonus of being really quick to make and requiring minimal amounts of fabric. I've been on a roll with these kind of tops recently, having made a couple of  sleeveless turtleneck tops and a ribbed vest. After seeing this floral jersey fabric from Craft Cotton Co the opportunity to make yet another sleeveless top became clear. I wanted to make something that was simple to sew and easy to wear, letting the pretty fabric do the talking. The great thing about these tops is that that the style can be easily changed depending on straps, neckline etc to give rise to lots of different garments.

My initial plan with this fabric was to try and do something with elastic, perhaps to include puff sleeves or create an off the shoulder top like this one. I'd still like to have a go at one of those projects but I decided to go for something more basic that I knew I could pair with different trousers. 

Last year I made myself a super simple pattern for a strap top that could be made from fabric scraps. I wanted to focus on the armhole and position of the straps to make it fit me perfectly, something that is hard to find with tops like these in RTW shops as they're often made cheaply. I'm so pleased with how well the fit turned out. It's a great pattern to use both for scraps that would be thrown away, or a fabric like this one where I wanted the design to be visible. Simple, easy to make and good for wearing on holiday. 

As mentioned I chose to go for a simple design in order to focus on the fabric. I did want to include some kind of fun detail though, so I decided to add a tie to the straps. It was so easy to do, I just cut the straps about 7" longer and tied them over my shoulder. It adds a nice bit of interest and works really well with this fabric as it's quite a small print. I went for a double knot with the ends hanging out, but a bow would look nice in a draper fabric or you could change the length of the ends.

One thing I like about the design of this top is that the straps also act as bias binding around the armholes. It gives the armhole a really neat finish and avoids a messy or weak attachment of straps to the bodice.

The first time I made a top like this, I left it un-hemmed and simply cut it at the length I wanted it to finish. It worked well on the rib I used for that project, but I wanted a neater finish on this top. Also, the jersey would have probably rolled if I hadn't hemmed it. I'd say the main thing I've learnt through sewing with jersey is that small hems do not work. They go wobbly and turn under, giving a messy finish to the project. It's something that's always bothered me about some of my older jersey tops like this jumper and this t-shirt, and I now make sure to finish all jersey makes with a hem that is at least 1" deep. 

For this top I sewed a double row of stitching, a finish that I love. It doesn't take a lot of effort but I think it shows that you've put thought into the whole sewing process and just makes it look a bit nicer. It's so tempting to rush hems but I think a neat hem does make a real difference. I do keep meaning to buy a twin needle but for now I just sew the two rows of topstitching individually.

I think this was the perfect project for this fabric and I'm looking forward to wearing this top in the summer, hopefully whilst on holiday. It goes well with my new Lander Pants too!

DIY Ribbed Vest Top

I really enjoy upcycling old items of clothing to turn them into new ones (this top made from old jeans remains one of my all time favourite makes) and often do this with clothes that I no longer wear. Upcycling isn't limited to RTW garments though, altering old me-mades which are no longer worn is also a great way to make turn something unwearable into something new - and as a bonus you get two items of clothing from one piece of fabric. 

I'm really proud of the fact that most of the things I make are really wearable, and pieces such as this skirt or this dress which I made years ago I continue to wear now. But often the things that I've made in the past require some small tweaks. For example, I have since added pockets to and turned up the hem of my Delphine Skirt to make it more wearable. I'm particularly pleased with the way I altered these Dawn Jeans into flares which I have worn a lot more. Other things that I've made in the past no longer fit me or the sewing isn't good enough (any knits made pre-overlocker feel rubbish in comparison to those I make now!) and so these require more drastic changes. 

Of course not all things that I've made previously that no longer fit can be adapted. My Ginger Jeans, for example, got a lot of wear at the time and whilst I was disappointed that I couldn't continue wearing them - they took so long to make! - I'm still so pleased I did make them and enjoyed wearing them. Those jeans were also part of the learning curve which has enabled me to make several pairs of jeans recently which fit perfectly. 

I made this stripy turtleneck top way back in 2017. In fact, the blog post was written in January so I probably started the project in 2016! I'd been making my own clothes for a couple of years then and was starting to learn how to self-draft my own patterns. I'm actually still quite pleased with how the turtleneck turned out as I hacked the Tilly and the Buttons Coco Top pattern which has a very different neckline, but since making turtleneck tops following actual patterns I haven't been wearing that one anymore. The sewing also wasn't great as the side seams were sewn using a zigzag stitch rather than an overlocker. 

I really liked the fabric that I used to make the turtleneck so I decided to salvage it and make a new top from the old one. The fabric I used was a black and white rib bought from Guthrie & Ghani, so ideal to make a vest top. I was obviously limited by the amount of fabric available and the fact that it was already sewn into a top, so a sleeveless vest top was probably the only option. 

The first thing I did was to entirely unpick the top, giving me flat pieces of fabric. I then cut out the front and back bodices from the old front and back and used the sleeves to create strips of binding. I copied a RTW vest top to make this and I really liked the detail of having the binding overlap round the edges to enclose the seams. It's possible to do with a rib that doesn't fray and makes a change from the method that I used for this top. 

This was such an easy make and I'm very pleased to have given this fabric a new life. I was able to enjoy it both as a turtleneck which I wore quite a bit at the time and now as a new top which better fits my current style. I'm wearing this top with my grey Anima Pants here and have also worn it with my wide-legged Dawn Jeans, it's a great basic that I'm very pleased to own.

Making a velour zip-up jacket

 

I've always enjoyed making things from fabrics that they wouldn't normally be made from (like this shirt top made out of jersey) and having seen a resurgence of velour type fabrics recently I thought it would be fun to make an item of clothing from a fabric which is often used for upholstery. I chose a deep jewel green colour velour (the colour way is called 'petrol') for this project which seemed like a good fit for a zip-up jacket.

This project actually started off with the assumption that it would be a zip-up hoodie, but the structure of the fabric makes it feel much more like a jacket. I actually used the same self-drafted pattern that I made this black zip-up hoodie from, which goes to show how different the same pattern can look when made from two different fabrics. The pattern still worked really well for this fabric, although I should have widened the sleeves slightly as they are a little tight when made from a non-stretch fabric. Because it's so difficult to find matching ribbing I just used the same fabric for the hem band and cuffs on this jacket, but I think the velour would have also paired well with a rib for those.  

The only change I made from my black hoodie was to add in some pockets. I got this idea from a cropped RTW hoodie and, whilst the pockets aren't functional as they're so high up, I really like how they look. It's also a nice addition to a plain fabric as they add a bit of interest, especially with the topstitching. Rather than drafting a disproportional pocket I used my pattern piece from the Tilly and the Buttons Stella Hoodie (which I've made before here, here and here but without the pocket) and cut it in half to allow the zip to run through it. The pockets are fully lined which is a nice finish to have but they were almost impossible to attach! Because the velour is a fairly heavyweight fabric having a double layer for the pockets and then a double layer for the hem band made the topstitching around the bottom really tricky. It probably would have been better to turn the pocket fabric under and hem with this kind of fabric.

As always I enjoyed focusing on the smaller details like topstitching. Like the pockets, adding some rows of stitching adds a bit of interest to the plain fabric. The hood is also fully lined (unlike the pockets I think that was necessary, the wrong fabric would have showed) which creates a bit of stiffness but that will probably soften with wear.

Zips can often make or break a garment (literally, I was so sad when the zip on these jeans broke!) so they're definitely worth spending extra on. I've found that YKK zips are a really great quality and used one with silver teeth for this make. As I mentioned above it's really hard to match colours online, especially with a colour like this green one which isn't a classic shade. I decided to go for a green zip which seemed like the closest match but the shades were completely different and I reckon it would have been better to go for black or grey. 

It wouldn't usually matter so much if the zip isn't a perfect colour-match but for a jacket like this one the zip tape would have been visible whenever the jacket wasn't zipped up. To fix this problem I made some bias binding out of the velour fabric and sewed it around the zip tape. As a bonus it also makes the inside super neat, although I had to hand sew it down which took forever!

I think I must have been unusually distracted while making this jacket as it I had to unpick quite a few sections (I actually forgot to add the pockets when I first sewed in the zip!) but it was a really enjoyable project. I definitely think that velour can work for clothes and not just cushions, and I'm very pleased with how this jacket turned out. Looking back through some of my older makes I realised that I've actually used velour before on a dressmaking project - I made this dress back in 2017. I'm still proud of that dress but it's also really nice to see how much my sewing has improved, this jacket was a self-drafted pattern and is much more suited to something I would wear on a daily basis. 

[This fabric was given to me by Minerva in exchange for a blog post]