Sewing

Sewing Bettine Tilly and the Buttons’ new pattern

Yesterday I had the luxury of a day to myself. I planned on making a camera bag, I searched Etsy and downloaded a perfect pattern. Then the postman arrived and my plans changed!…

You see, my post contained two sewing patterns, two newly released sewing patterns from Tilly and the buttons . I had only purchased them the day before, such a quick service.
They were of course the Bettine and the Fifi pattern. I took one look at the Bettine pattern and I knew…talk about love at first sight. There was only one thing to do, retire to my sewing room for the afternoon and sew a Bettine.

I found some fabric, I had the interfacing and the elastic but most importantly I had the time. What a luxury.

The instructions are straight forward and precise. I like precise, I am an experienced sewer of over 40 years and counting (yes I started when I was 12…. shhhhhh) However even a beginner sewist would be able to sew this cute dress with no problem.There are two versions of Bettine and as Tilly suggests a learner sewer might choose to sew the version without pockets, I could not agree more. There are no zips. no darts and the sleeves are ‘kimono style’ nothing could be simpler for a novice.

I chose to sew the pocket version, but left off the cuff tabs. I also lengthened the skirt by about two centimetres. (I am 5ft 7″) I also left off the top stitching around the neck facing, choosing instead to hand sew it, by attaching it to the seams underneath to keep it flat.
I cut to my measurements as outlined by the pattern details and it fit perfectly.

Although I sewed it in an afternoon, I did not rush it, I even finished the hem by hand. I love a hand finished hem, it makes such a difference to the finished garment.
This dress is a simple and quick sew. I will be making another very soon…

My 13 year old grump teen was happy to take my pics because I allowed him to use my new camera, (the camera I had planned making a bag for yesterday) here I am being bossy…..