Hello Friends

I’ve missed blogging and sharing my sewing projects on here for a while now. I wish I had a more valid excuse other than that the winter blues got me. While I have steadily been sewing all this time, I’ve really really struggled with getting pictures taken. This particular outfit that I can’t wait to share with you today turned out so much better than I had envisioned and made me feel so amazing when I put it on, that I’m so excited to share it with you and get back into blogging again.

It’s a lovely pattern called the Clementine top and dress pattern by forget me not Patterns. It’s my first time sewing one of their patterns and I am very impressed with the fit and quality of this pattern. Every pattern piece fits perfectly well without the least bit of finagling. The pattern includes several notches and markings to make sure all the seams align properly. The instructions and the illustrations in the tutorial are clear and concise. I really like how the cowl neck is constructed and the facing is anchored into the armscye so it doesn’t flip outwards. The shoulder seams are also enclosed.

Now that I’ve finished listing out my favorite parts of this pattern, let me get down to the actual details of this pattern along with a mini tutorial on how I hacked the dress into separates. The Clementine top and dress pdf pattern is designed for drapey knit fabrics with at least  10% stretch. It features a fitted silhouette with flattering princess seams, a scoop neck or a cowl neck and a few different sleeve lengths. It comes in both top length and a dress length which flares out into a full knee length skirt. It includes sizes from 28 to 48 for a B-cup bust. They also include useful tutorials on how to grade between sizes, make a full bust adjustment and how to alter necklines on their website.

I haven’t sewn many patterns with 1/4” seam allowances and they always make me nervous because of how little the margin for error is with such small seam allowances. Thankfully, the need to mess with the fit didn’t arise. Based on my measurements and the chart I made a size 32 for my bust and graded to a 34 in the waist and hips, and the fit was absolute perfection. This being my first time with a new pattern designer, I was expecting to tweak the fit to my body shape so you can imagine my surprise when I first tried it on. I  was truly pleased 🙂

I used a solid mauve knit for the top that I’ve had in my stash forever and I can’t remember where I got it from. I really love the color and was saving it for something until I forgot I even had it. I chose to make the top firstly because I wasn’t sure of the fit and secondly because tops simply are more practical and I get more wear out of them. Once I made the top, I was delighted at how well it fit and how much I loved wearing it. I almost  started to feel bad for not having made the dress when I realized that I could just use the skirt portion to make a skirt to complete the outfit 🙂

For the skirt, I used a polka dotted knit jersey that I recently purchased from Harts Fabric. The drape and weight of the rayon-lycra was perfect for this skirt. Here’s a little tutorial if you’d like to make this skirt as well 🙂

I printed the skirt pattern piece and instead of taping it to the bodice, I removed 2″ from the top, then added 1″ to the bottom so it flared out a little more. I used the top 1.25″ of the skirt for the waistband construction so please adjust length accordingly.

Use your waist measurement, subtract 1″ from it and cut a 1″ wide elastic in that length. Overlap the elastic by about a 1/4″ and sew it into a loop.

Place the elastic inside the skirt waist, fold the top of the skirt over the elastic by 1/4″ and attach it to the elastic with a zigzag stitch. Then fold the elastic till it is completely encased in the skirt waist. Edge-stitch the elastic to the skirt with a straight stitch while stretching it slightly to fit the skirt. And that’s it, hem the skirt and you’re done!

I love how this outfit turned out and being as neutral as they are, they’ll pair easily with other tops and bottoms from my closet. I am really happy with Clementine top and dress pattern and definitely recommend it.

Happy sewing friends!!