Sometimes my sewing starts with a pattern and sometimes it starts with a fabric.

This was definitely a case of the latter.

When I saw this fabric on The Fabric Store’s website (I think it is now sold out), it was love at first sight. The colours are my perfect palette and I love large-scale geometric prints. It’s a silk and wool blend and it’s actually quite heavyweight.

And I wanted, above all, to make something that I would truly get wear out of.

So I sat on this fabric for a while and went back and forth about what I should do with it!

It would have made a great dress, especially a fit and flare style, but the truth is I’m just not in the mood for structured dresses right now. Part of me wanted an outer layer, but all the patterns I liked for this were rather unstructured, so I felt it wouldn’t do the fabric justice.

In the end, I decided to go with a top and bottom combo, which could be worn together or separately, to try to maximise the chances to wear this lovely fabric.

Pre-washing adventures

While I will take plenty of shortcuts in sewing, one thing I do not take shortcuts on is pre-washing my fabric.

Here, though, I messed up a little, so I thought I would share the experience in case it helps anyone to not do the same thing! You know, just in case anyone else out there gets the sewing sillies sometimes too!

Now, of course, I know that a silk/wool blend shouldn’t really be washed in an ordinary machine.

Buuuuut, I also know that the last time I took anything to a dry cleaner it was probably my wedding dress. Honestly, it’s just not going to happen.

At first, I wasn’t worried about how to pre-wash the fabric as I was originally thinking it would be an outer layer which could just be spot cleaned.

But then I changed my mind and clearly created the kind of garments that do need to be washed!

So I cut a sample of the fabric and popped it in the wash to see how it would handle the delicates cycle in my washing machine.

Aaaaand, it actually came out looking fine.

So I thought, great, it can handle the occassional machine wash from time to time. So I went ahead and put the entire cut of fabric in the wash.

This time, when it came out, all the creamier-coloured parts of the fabric had, ummm, taken on a rather bluish tinge. The colour had run and I hadn’t noticed it because when I cut my sample to pre-wash first, it didn’t have any cream on it. The pattern is so large-scale that not every colour on the fabric was included in my pre pre-wash sample!

Nothing to be done about it now, I’ll just have to live with the slight discolouration.

And ensure that in future, any test wash samples incorporate both the lightest and darkest colours of the pattern!

La jupe culotte from Deer and Doe Dressed eBook

I had initially wanting to make the Tania Culottes by Megan Nielsen for the bottom half for this outfit, as I absolutely adore the swishy-ness of having a circle skirt for each leg!

Unfortunately, the fabric was too narrow, so it wasn’t possible to fit the pattern pieces in.

So I turned to another tried and tested pattern, the Culottes from the Dressed eBook by Deer and Doe (** Deer and Doe sent me a copy of this book for free, with no requirement or request that I sew from it nor share anything I make from it**).

I love the first version of this pattern I made, so why not make more?

The culottes are a size 46, with the back darts omitted and with elastic inserted into the back of the waisband. To allow for this, the zipper has also been moved from-centre back to the side.

You can see the details about these modifications on the above linked post about my other pair, mentioned above. These are identical to that pair, so I don’t really have anything to add.

These came out pretty much how I planned and I’m happy enough with them, but, I have to say, that, in general, printed pants are not a real comfort zone for me. I feel as though it’s perhaps a little “too much”. It makes no sense in that I am perfectly happy to embrace all over print in a dress, which obviously also covers my bottom half. But printed bottom halves somehow always give me mixed feelings.

Ashton top by Helen’s Closet

The top half is the Ashton top by Helen’s closet. Although this one is something of a darling of the sewing community, this was my first time sewing it.

My body measurements had me at a size 10 at the high bust, size 12 at the full bust, size 16 at the waist and size 14 at the hips.

In other words, a bit all over!

After checking out the finished garments measurement and noting that the slight A-line shape created plenty of ease at the waist, I decided to prioritise my full-bust measurement and make a size 12.

The Ashton top by Helen’s Closet was really simple and fun to make, with great instructions. This is the cropped view and I used the all-in-one facing option for binding the neck and armholes. Although I don’t usually like facings, an all-in-one facing on a sleeveless top is the exception in this regard.

It feels a bit like magic!

The Ashton top is a very quick sewing project. Once I had the project cut out, I sewed the entire garment in just 2.5 hours, with two tea breaks taken within that time.

And that wasn’t rushing at all, but actually taking my time to do things slowly!

It was a great morning’s sewing!

I can definitely see the potential for the Ashton top as a great little stash buster and overall I really like its shape and proportions on me. In future versions, I’ll make some slight tweaks to better suit my body – lowering the armscye ever so slightly and taking a pinch out of the back neck to prevent gaping there.

In all honesty, these are changes I could probably go back in and still achieve in this version if I feel so inclined (I know, I won’t).

Although the relative “fanciness” of this fabric means that I haven’t been reaching for this Ashton Top and Deer and Doe Dressed Culottes everyday, I do really like them. The fact that my closet is so full that I’ve stashed them my husband’s closet, hoping he doesn’t notice probably contributes to not reaching for them too! On days when I have had to go back into the office in person, I have worn these as it feels good to have an excuse to wear silk!

All-in-all, I feel satisfied that this lovely fabric has ended up being made into something interesting and unique! Perhaps, the fabric would have been better suited as a fitted princess line bodice with tulip skirt (honestly, I feel that the Elisalex dress from By Hand London would have been perfect), but that’s just not where my clothes journey is at these days. It still feels like it’s a superpower that we can take something we adore, like this fabric, and manipulate it into something which fits all aspects of our lifestyle and aesthetic.

Now let’s just hope it doesn’t turn too blue next time I wash it!

If you want to see more of my sewing adventures, you can find me on Instagram here.