Simple And Classy Dress With Removable Bow

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Hi there. Today's post is about a simple and classy dress with a removable bow. I made this dress last week for the annual dinner at my husband's work.  I remembered I had two yards of cotton blend fabric with elastane in my stash, so I didn't need to buy new fabric.  For the design, I chose a simple dress with a little bit of something like a bow or a flower. And in the end, I chose a silk bow. For the pattern, I used my self-drafted dress with long sleeves. At first, I was making a midi length but cut it below my knee. The sewing process was fast because of the simple design, I did it in two days.  The process started in a usual manner, I sewed the darts, sewed the invisible zipper, sewed the front and back dress together, attached the sleeves, etc. I tried on the dress and found out the neckline was a bit gaping and the dress was too loose and too long. So, I reduced the shoulder line by 1 cm on both sides before attaching the facing.

Summer Tops

Hi everyone,
Don't get surprised with the amount of tops I made lately. I made five! Yes, I need them all to wear during summer :) I was lucky to have all the fabrics inside stash, most of them are the leftover from previous garments.
Before I show you the pattern and detail, let's take a look of the finished tops. I love them all, they are really comfy and easy to wear with anything.

The fabric are all one meter of knits, knit cotton (red, black, yellow and emerald blue) and denim jersey knit.
I used BurdaStyle Triangle Cutout Dress pattern to make this top. I cut the length right in my hips, skip the triangle cutout and lower the neckline 3 cm. Except the one with denim jersey knit, the neckline is just like the original pattern. Also, I used 1 cm seam allowances in all edges and 1.5 cm hem allowance.

The sewing process was very fast, I did each top in two hours including cutting the fabric.
As usual, I started by sew both shoulders right sides together followed by sew both top sides right sides together.
After that I sew the sleeve hem by folded the seam allowances to the wrong side and carefully sew around.
Then I sew the neckline by folded the seam allowance to the wrong side and stitched around with twin needle. And the last part was sew the hem allowance with twin needle. Done!

Well, all my tops are basically the same but I decided to add a little touch to make them slightly different. For my first version - the yellow top, I added high-low hem instead of usual hem. I just cut the back piece longer than the front. The result is cute and I like it, hope you can see the high-low hem in the picture below.
I wore this top for mmmay'16 day 5 with my flounce skirt.


The denim jersey top was my second version, I made the neckline exactly as the original pattern finished with normal hem. I wore the top for mmmay'16 day 16 with my orange shorts.


Now let's talk about my third version, emerald blue. I made it with girly touch, cut 10 cm and knotted at the side. The idea came up suddenly because I planned to wear it with my tea-length skirt (not yet blogged). The result is nice and I like it :)
I wore the top for mmmay'16 day18



The red top was my fourth version, I decided to sew a small pocket. Hope you can see it :)
I am wearing this top today with my refashioned polka dots skirt. We are having bad weather, raining and typhoon signal 1. The picture taken in the middle of the rain after lunch :( Hope the typhoon will go away...


The skirt was made out from my old dress, I just cut 8 cm on the top of the waistline and carefully picking up the invisible zipper to use again. Then fused fusible interfacing, folded the skirt at the top that supposed to be the waistband. Stitch around the band and I am done! Here are the two pictures of the skirt, front and back views.


Finally we reached the fifth version of the top, nothing special about it. A plain black top that I am planning to wear with my culottes. I will be posting the culottes in the future post :)

P.S. I am joining MMMay'16 through Flickr.com, I will be posting my final roundup in the end of this month but you are welcome to see my album Velvet Ribbon, MMMay'16

Happy Sewing everyone!

Love,
Hana

Comments

  1. Such nice tops in a useful variety of colours. I love making the ordinary things that will be worn again and again. You have done such a nice job of personalising them. Regards, Trish

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  2. Great that you made so many tops! I would need some too! I also like that they are all a little bit different from each other and special!

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  3. Very nice tops, Hana. I love the special details you added to make them slightly different. These will definitely be useful during summer.

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  4. Lots to comment on today Hana! First...you are a sewing machine!!! Five tops, WOW! Second, I love navy and orange together...my favourite combo of all you've shown today! Third...I looked up typhoon signals...very interesting, and I was relieved that signal 1 is the lowest of the threats. Hope things weather-wise calm down. Fourth...the tie t-shirt is so clever!!! Well done! Such a great post Hana!

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    1. Thank you, Sue. Glad that the typhoon didn't effect us but we got a lot of rain and windy yesterday.
      Hope you have a lovely weekend :)

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  5. Love all your tops.. So nice when you find a simple pattern that will produce lots of wearable tops. And they go with so many different items.. Really cute and look good on you.. Happy sewing.

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    1. Thank you so much, Judy. How are you? You have been so quiet lately. Hope you are still sewing and will show us your latest garment :)

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  6. These colors are beautiful. It's fun making multiples and having items ready for the season. I can see that you are really enjoying wearing them.

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    1. Thank you Dot. I really enjoy wearing them and I think I can never get enough.. :)

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  7. Such a pretty lot of tops and they look lovely on you.

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  8. You have been sewing up a storm Hana. Five fabulous tops all so practical and easy to wear, and every one personalised. Beautiful!

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    1. Thank you Jean. Thank God that my sewing mojo is back :)

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  9. That's a very good idea to make this beautiful tops out of leftovers.
    LG Carolin

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    1. Thank you dear. I still have some scraps waiting for me :)

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  10. Muy buena idea. Básico y cómodo. Me gusta mucho!
    Saludos y te invito a conocer mi blog. Al finalizar el post se encuentra un enlace a mi segundo vídeo. Me hace ilusión que lo conozcas.
    Besos... Ga!
    https://vuelagabiota2012.blogspot.com.ar/2016/05/una-burbuja-de-paz.html

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    1. Thank you for reading, I will pop over your blog. Have a lovely day :)

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  11. Fantastic idea to make up a selection of little knit tops - so quick and adds interest to the wardrobe in no time. They are all so pretty and look so lovely on. Your skirt refashion is lovely too. Looking forward to seeing your culottes.

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    1. Thank you Sarah Liz. Summer is finally here and I need these tops for my everyday wear :)

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  12. What great basics you have added to your wardrobe! Fantastic idea to use the same pattern, but make each a little different. Really like the way you made the tied at the side version. Love them all! :)

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  13. What an array of beautiful colours! Im sure you will get loads of wear out of such practical tops and the colours are all lovely on you Hana x

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    1. Ehehe.. thank you dear. I wore them already sometimes :)

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