Bank Holiday Sewing Projects

This Bank holiday weekend, we were at a friends lovely wedding so sewing projects were on hold until Sunday afternoon! 

I have been working on a super exciting unselfish sewing project which is nearly finished so hopefully some pictures soon. However, whilst I am enjoying the project immensely it doesn't need my new shiny overlocker. Luckily, my friend Jo gave me some beautiful Batik fabric she picked up in Indonesia and I thought it would be perfect to have another go at a Colette Laurel pattern - using the overlocker too!

I made the top almost exactly as the Lacey version, however, this time I cut the back out in two pieces so that I could shape the top of the neck in to remove the excess material that caused some gaping in the previous version.

The sleeves were not as easy to ease into the armhole in the stiffer fabric and I couldn't complete remove all the pleats from the gathering. I also learnt after the first sleeve it is better to use a normal sewing machine to insert the sleeve then overlock the edges to finish it off.

Really love the fabric and it has made a nice summer/autumn top although I am still learning with the overlocker so it isn't as neat as the lacey version.

Still a fun bank holiday project! Also managed to finish my seamless knit top this weekend post about this soon.

Lacey Laurel Top

I recently went to Birmingham with my Mum and bought this lovely cotton lace fabric from one of the market stalls. I thought it would make a really nice over fabric for a double layered top so I also picked up some cream coloured cotton lining - the whole lot only cost £4 so I was pretty pleased with it.

The pattern I chose to make the top in was the Colette Laurel top as I really like boxy tops with darts in the back to give a bit of shape. Although I nearly changed my mind when I saw the price of the pattern! Hopefully I will get lots of use out of it making the different variations.

I cut the back and front pieces out of both fabrics. I actually cut the back out on the fold as well taking out the seam allowance as I didn't want a balky back seam through all the fabric layers. The sleeves I lengthend by 3 inches before cutting out only in the lace material.

Once cut out I layered the lace pieces on top of the lining material and tacked the pieces together around the outside. This also acted as my stay stitching for the neck edge. I was then able to start following the pattern instructions for view 4. I transferred all pattern markings to the lining material rather than the lace as it was easier to see that way and the lace was a bit more stretchy so more likely to move as I was marking. 

The darts for both front and back were sewn through all the layers of fabric which required a bit of pressing to get them to sit nicely. 


After sewing the seams I trimmed them down and "overlocked" the edges using the machines overlocking foot to get the zigzag stitch to neatly line up of the edge. I'm really pleased with how this finishes off the edges in woven fabrics although I might eventually invest in an actual overlocker that will do it properly. 

The neck edge I bound using bias binding made from the lining fabric and my favourite neck binding method. I thought about binding the sleeve cuffs to but in the end just did a double turned hem on the lace which works well and matches the hem at the bottom of the top. 

Very pleased with how the top has turned out and can definitely see me making some more using this pattern. It wasn't a difficult pattern to follow and even with the faff of using double layers it only took me  couple of hours from cutting out to putting on - although it will probably be off again and in the wash quicker than that as white is not a sensible choice with a lively muddy Rottweiler about!

"Who? Me?!"