Bettine - Tilly and the Buttons

I tried my first Tilly and the Buttons pattern! I was a big fan since Great British Sewing Bee 1 however I had never tried one of Tilly's patterns before - its not that I have anything against them - but ordinarily the designs are just not things I would wear as my style. HOWEVER in stepped the latest Bettine pattern and that definitely grabbed my attention.

The pattern is described as "an easy-peasy throw-it-over-your-head dress. It has a blousy bodice with scoop neckline, kimono sleeves which hang softly around the underarm, turn-up cuffs, elasticated waistline to cinch you in and flattering tulip skirt."

Tilly you had me at "easy-peasy throw-it-over-your-head" - this is all I require of my clothes. Easy comfort. Oh yeah....and the lack of having to put in a sleeve (::shudder::) After having a little Pinterest stalk to see some versions it was clear that the pattern had great potential for effortless style.

This was the kind of dress I envisioned for my blue liberty fabric - in fact it looks a lot like the example dress used on the Liberty website to demonstrate the patterns.

As I have a massive fear of chopping into 'special' fabric - I did a test run with some very cool Glow in the Dark Sugar Skull fabric by The Textile Centre (via eBay). I didn't expect to love this fabric as much as I do - it glows in the dark dammit!! Here is the result:

 

I followed the pattern and sizing chart exactly to see what it would turn out like - this one is cut size 5 on top and graded to size 6 for the bottom half. As it was a test version I went for all the bells and whistles (well, cuff tabs and pockets).

Firstly the pattern itself is beautiful - a very bright packet, full booklet of colour photo instructions and high quality paper for the pattern itself. In true Tilly fashion I traced it onto Swedish Tracing Paper (which by the way is AMAZING).

The instructions are very clear and easy to follow at every stage. I really liked how the construction was very simple but effective and how neat the insides turned out too.

Constructing the pocket

Inside out!

 The ONLY changes I made to this pattern was to lengthen it by about an inch for a better length (I'm 5ft7) and then when making the elastic casing. Instead of pressing and sewing it down onto the skirt and pockets, I pressed it up onto the bodice. I found that pressing it downwards obscured the clean lines of the pockets a bit as they get gathered aswell, plus the skirt rode up a bit and made it look quite 'hip-py' which was not very flattering. A very simple change though, made a lot of difference.

It really is a fab little dress - incredibly comfortable and as promised, easy to throw on and go.

Here is a few close up pics of the details:

cuff and cuff tab

pocket and waist

bodice - I hadn't pressed the neckline at this point!

So testing done - onto the Liberty Lawn! Come and say hi on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Bloglovin too :-) xx