Aug 20 2019
What have I been sewing lately? It was a bought garment that I picked up on holiday (for 5 Euros!) that gave me the inspiration for this project. It was regularly admired when I wore it and everyone always asked if I had made it myself. Unable to say 'yes', I decided it was time to Clone My Closet and make my own version of it.
The main bodice was pretty easy to clone as there was little fitting, I extended the sleeve length a little but except for that kept it the same. The challenge was the neckline feature and getting the fall of the frill right. It was easy enough to copy the neckline shape but calculating the folds and length of the frill without unpicking it was a bit tricky and required making up a couple of mock samples of just the frill to get it right. The original garment was a lightweight polyester satin with plenty of drape and I was using a cotton Liberty print from my fabric stash (a bargain from Standfast and Barracks). I knew it would not drape as well but I really wanted to use it anyway and am really pleased with the way the folds sit.
The bodice and sleeves were easy to make up with an elasticated finish at the bottom hem and sleeve openings. It was a bit more tricky to work out how the fill was attached to the front opening and how the raw edge of the neckline was finished. It had a separate piece of binding for the front and back, I got there in the end and it will be much easier second time around!
This is what the finished garment looked like........
and I managed to get a second top (Simplicity 1280) out of the left over fabric...
I am currently making a second sample of the clone in the below polyester satin fabric from our online shop which will drape in the same way as the original sample, it will however, be much more tricky to work with.
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