Category Archives: Salme Patterns

White Tree / GBSB lacy tee

Lace tee

Just a quick one today to show this tee I made as part of a White Tree Fabrics blogger challenge. They invited their blogger network to pick a lace fabric to celebrate this week’s lace-themed episode of the Great British Sewing Bee – I still haven’t seen the episode so no spoilers please, but I hear someone on the show used this very same fabric for their dress! I went for a Burnt Orange corded lace because the colour is so beautiful and, being quite inexperienced in sewing lace, I thought a more rigid lace would be easier to deal with. It’s not quite as neon as it came out in these photos by the way!

Lace tee

To show off the lace I picked a simple T-shirt pattern – the Salme pleated t-shirt. I did plan to add the pleats initially, but decided against it in the end as I wanted the lace pattern to be the star of the show. I made sure to line up the bodice and sleeve hems against the selvedge to be able to use the scallops for the edges.

Lace tee

I cut the seam allowances down to about 5mm and finished the raw edges together with a small zig zag (the fabric barely frays at all anyway). The neckline is simply turned and hemmed and there was no hemming required on the cuffs and bottom hem, making this a very speedy sew.

Lace tee

Pop over to the White Tree blog to read a bit more and see the other bloggers’ lacy makes. Tomorrow I’ve got a review of the new GBSB book coming too!

Camisole crazy

Hallo! Thanks so much for the kind comments on my swimsuit. In a happy twist of fate, I am unexpectedly taking a pattern-cutting crash course this week (more on that soon – it is blowing my tiny mind) so if you fancied the pattern do watch this space. Now for something silly…

cami gif

Sooo, these projects are all so quick and kinda throwaway that they don’t seem worth a post of their own. But I’ve been rigorously testing out seemingly every cami/tank/singlet pattern under the sun lately (and wearing them almost daily – London is HOT, by the way) so I thought I’d jot down my thoughts on each of them.

(What do you think of my new photo setup by the way? I actually finally found a wall in my flat that’s plain white and gets decent light. Can’t decide if it’s a bit boring, though…)

Camisoles

You probably recognise this first cami from its background role in some other posts – I barely took it off for like two weeks straight when I made it. It’s a Salme double-layer cami made from a slinky viscose remnant from Abakhan. Unfortunately, a quick learning for me was that the seemingly simple camisole proves tricky to fit on my body. I have a very small high chest / overbust measurement compared to full bust and overall frame. That means I get mad gaping through necklines (fixed here with a crafty front box pleat) but then get tightness through the bust and underarms if I size down too much. I’m working to perfect the fit with each cami I make, but luckily I actually rather like the pleat detail here. From what I’ve already learned in pattern class this week, I could/should have pivoted out that excess into the bust dart.

Camisoles

Another Salme one using the offcut from my Anna dress. This time I folded the excess fabric out of the neckline, but forgot that the pattern doesn’t include seam/hem allowance and merrily cut my fabric without it. Luckily it does still fit as I sized up anyway as I always do for woven tops, but it’s a wee bit snugger than I generally like. I like the Salme pattern because the underlayer is attached RS together all around the neckline, meaning you don’t need to finish the raw edges with anything fiddly like bias or facings. I’ve been using my seemingly endless stash of stretch mesh as linings to avoid adding much weight or bulk.

Camisoles

Lucky number three, a plain black self-lined slinky viscose version of the Salme – perfect fit!

Camisoles

Ummmm, this one has tiny tumbling cats on and I have run out of things to say. Cats.

Camisoles

Here’s a different pattern, the free Diana cami from Sewloft, made up in a beautiful Liberty tana lawn that I bought as a pre-cut 1m from Liberty’s sale. (Anyone know the name of this design? I love it so much!) I had exactly the same gaping issue, and pinched it out with a front tuck this time. It doesn’t hang quite as nicely as the Salme one as it has no bust darts – notice the ripples down the sides – but that could also be a side effect of the crisp lawn.

Camisoles

I love the back detailing on this one, even if it’s not so bra-friendly. I lined it in white cotton voile to make the print ‘pop’ a bit more and get the same clean neckline finish as the Salme one (the pattern as written is unlined with self bias to finish the neckline). I treated the lining and main as one when sewing the side seams, but I think I prefer the lining hanging loose inside like the Salme one for an easier drape.

Camisoles

Finally the free By Hand London Polly top. I don’t know why I held off making this so long – it’s so sweet, fast to make, and a really good scrapbuster. This is made in a Ghanaian wax cotton that I scooped up from a lovely lady at Spitalfields market for just £2. It was already half-sewn into a skirt so I had to cut carefully to make it fit; the awkward seam right up the front is an unfortunate effect of that. The fabric has two ‘good’ sides with a nice colour contrast; I think the centre panel is supposed to be the wrong side.

Camisoles

I cut a 10 at the top, grading to a 14 at the hips – next time I will pinch more a bit still out of the front and back necklines and perhaps attempt a sway-back adjustment. I only had enough fabric left to cut self bias binding for the neck; the armsyces are just turned and topstitched which luckily worked fine in this easy-press fabric. I really love this top and can see it becoming a TNT as the potential for colour/print blocking is high and it’s so fast and fun to sew. A Polly dress might be on the horizon too…

Fabric cat

So there you go, a veritable bevy of camis. Be rewarded by my cat lounging inconsiderately on my pile of to-be-photographed tops, the adorable little jerk.

Fabric cat

Which is your favourite, Yoni? No surprises there.

Bridges dress

bridges dress

I’ve been a bit stuck on what to make next since the new year. I keep looking between my fabric stash and sewing sketchbook, sighing and dithering. It’s a bit of a battle between picking projects that I find challenging and interesting to sew, and what I actually like to wear. Those two criteria often seem diametrically opposed unfortunately, as I’m constantly seeking new sewing challenges, but basically live in simple shapes and fabrics. To that end, I’m rather pleased with this simple cotton dress that I made leisurely last weekend. It did end up presenting quite a challenge: not in the actual construction, but in designing it to fit into my everyday wardrobe without getting carried away with unwanted details.

bridges dress

Challenge the first to surmount: shock horror, it isn’t made from my beloved jersey. I had a gift voucher for The Village Haberdashery and chose this ‘Waterfront Park’ quilting cotton as I love the colour and print. I wouldn’t usually make a frock from quilting cotton but this stuff is super nice, with quite a bit of cross-grain stretch and a good drape which makes it suitable for garments. It doesn’t even crease as badly as I was expecting during a day’s wear.

bridges dress

I learnt from my 2013 review that I do not wear non-stretch dresses on a regular basis, so how else to make this work for me? – choose an easy elastic-waist shape rather than try to do anything too structured and fitted, like the Belladone or Elisalex I first considered. I used Salme Patterns’ Kimono dress as a basis, but altered it quite a lot. I cut the skirt and bodice together as single pieces (front and back) and omitted the facings, meaning the dress is just two pieces. I cut more of a scoop neck (a bit too wide, bra straps tend to peek out), flared out the skirt by an extra inch or two at each side, shortened and rolled back the sleeves, and took it in at the armpit as it was looking a bit batwing. It isn’t really the same pattern at all after all that, ha.

bridges dress

I was really set on keeping the design simple, simple, simple to make sure it stayed everyday-wearable, so resisted the urge to add any little details like pockets, collar or pleats that would tip it into fussy. I stuck to this until right to the end, when I was rooting through my sewing box for some bias binding to finish the neckline and came across the grey metal zip, unused from my biker coat. I can’t resist a chunky zip detail, so sliced my dress right up the front and sewed it in. The zip was a touch shorter than the length I wanted so it looks a bit weird that it ends above the hem, but I can deal with it.

Bridges dress

Otherwise I’m dead pleased with this dress and I think it will definitely be in regular rotation. I even wore it yesterday, my birthday, for drinks and dinner. It’s just as easy to wear as a knit dress, so I’m going to look out for more sweet quilting cottons that could be used in a similar way.

bridges dress

Following on from this, I think one of my missions for this year is to draft my perfect day dress that can be made up in either knits or wovens. This was a good first stab, but I would do a couple of things differently next time:

1. Pockets. I keep reaching for them on this dress! I want to learn how to draft curved hip yoke pockets as I find them more interesting and flattering than side seam or patch ones. Then add them to everything.
2. Sleeves. Kimono sleeves are comfortable to wear but can look a tad sloppy, especially in more rigid fabrics. I would experiment with raglan or regular set-in sleeves.
3. Waistline. I like an elasticated waist, but they can also look a bit lazy and not drape well in stiffer cottons. Could try semi-elasticated (flat-fronted, elastic in back), smocked or drawstring instead.
4. Other details. A keyhole at the back neck? Chest pocket? Peter pan collar? Loads of scope for variations once the basic shape is sorted.

Two pussy bow dresses

Subtitled: a lesson in fabric choices.

Pussybow dress

These dresses are both the pussy bow dress by Salme patterns. I really like the aesthetic of lots of Elisa’s designs: unfussy and wearable but with interesting details, and I just love a blousy, elastic-waist fit as most of them are. Easy to sew, easy to fit, easy to wear. In theory anyway…

Salme pussybow dress
Salme pussybow dress

My first one is made from a lightweight mystery (polycotton I think) from Chapel Market – £3 in the remnants bin. Perhaps predictably, it was a nightmare to sew with because it frayed like a beeyatch. Sewing on the bias binding and creating the collar/tie piece without it unravelling before my eyes was painful. I wore it yesterday and the overlocked side seams started disintegrating! I really should have invested in a finer needle and/or French seamed the whole thing, but eh, I am an impatient sewist.

Salme pussybow dress

That aside, the construction is a bit tricksy anyway. The neckline involves tedious pressing and topstitching to get the collar and ties on with no seams peeking out. Given that I was working with a poly that really didn’t want to retain its ironed-in fold lines, this was a pretty big ask. I ended up cutting a few versions of the ties and trying different techniques until I found one that just about worked and looked fairly neat. I went for longer skinnier ties to make the neckline lie a bit flatter and let me adjust the way it can be tied in the front – a waist-level knot or neckline bow.

Pussybow dress

The second one is made of equally cheapo fabric – a border print ‘slinky jersey’ from Minerva – but, back in my beloved stretch fabric comfort zone, it went much more smoothly. I honestly don’t get why people are so scared of sewing stretch fabrics – sooo much easier to fit, finish and seam!

Pussybow dress

No need for any bias fiddling: I overlocked the armhole and neckline edging (cut on the cross-grain), turning inside-out when I hit the end of the neckline to form the ties. The join isn’t quite as neat as on the first dress, but if I tie the bow high you can’t see anything. I entirely forgot to sew the bust darts into this one, hence the slightly odd pulling around the waistline.

Pussybow dress

I took the effort to centre the pattern on the front and attempted to match it at the side seams. On this version I actually cut the entire front and back as continuous pieces (bodice and skirt connected) and added the elastic waist afterwards.

On both dresses I shortened the bodice by about 4 inches to sit on my natural waist and took in the bottom of the armholes a little to avoid bra-peekage. I really love the basic shape of this dress, so it’s a great little pattern to have in my collection.