I thought (while I am posting my Tilly & The Buttons dresses anyway) that I would do a quick post to show the Agnes Tops which I have made in the past…

My favourite is this version with the runched sleeves and lovely bird fabric. The fabric is so beautiful that I have just bought some more from America! I added 2 more lines of elastic per sleeve (either side of the original row and slightly shorter) as I prefer a softer runching. I also added some cuffs in the same fabric… I wear this version so much – and miss it when its in the wash!

This pink flamingo version was my first attempt… It was too wide for me (I have since used a smaller size of the pattern as my shoulders are narrow) I got round this problem by adding some elastic into the neckband (and this gathered the fabric up) and sewing a hemband. It’s not ideal but meant that my top was wearable – hooray! Again – it has extra elastic added to to the sleeves…

This green version was a ‘hack’ partly due to me not having much fabric but also because I liked the drape and wanted to try something softer… I think it works well. I tried to bag out the sleeves but in the end I unpicked it and left the raw cut edge. It just didn’t hang right any other way!

Scroll down for lots more pictures of all versions. I have also made a black one which I wear all the time – I am sure I will make many more – oh and a dress hack, I really want to try that… did I mention I love sewing!!

As planned I am so happy to have finally made up my Tilly & The Buttons Cleo Dress with embroidery on the pocket! It was so much fun to sew up and came together very quickly. I was also impressed that it didn’t use much fabric – which was a bonus for keeping the cost down.

I added an extra couple of inches to the length of the mini version and cut a size 10. I was unsure on this style as to whether it would be flattering for me personally. I did find that it hung down from the top and didn’t give me a waistline…. however, I decided to add a little scrap of fabric to the reverse of the dress (front – under the bustline and back – in the area for the small of the back) and this gave a runched effect which was more flattering I think. Scroll down for pictures…

Overall – a lovely pattern to work with (as are all the Tilly & The Buttons patterns) I have worn it constantly and I know I will make lots more variations 🙂

I have teamed it up with my homemade Tilly & The Buttons Agnes Top…

I have been so busy with Dotty Owl orders recently – I have hardly had time to sew up any clothes. So my friend’s birthday was the perfect excuse to take a couple of days off and finally have a go at making the lovely Tilly & The Buttons Zadie Dress – hooray! The good news is it worked out really well… the bad news is I had to give it away! Just before I parted with it I tried it on to get a couple of pictures. My 5 year old (bless her) was the only person available to take some shots before I had to wrap it up so I thought I would share the results. She had lots of fun but found it tricky with the weight of the camera – so there were a fair few shots of my feet and the sky too 🙂

To make up my Zadie Dress I chose a lovely jersey fabric online  – Millie Fleur Line Drawings Bluing Knit.

It’s a gorgeous fabric with a lovely Rose pattern but (after pre-washing it) it rolled up a lot and so made cutting out very tricky! It was worth the extra effort in the end though as it’s beautiful and soft to wear.

The pattern was brilliant (I have already made lots of Agnes tops so I knew it would be) and it had lots of fab pictures to help with every step of the way.

The only alteration I made was to add the belt at the end. I did this as my husband said it looked baggy at the back – and the belt solved this problem nicely. Of course it may have just been the way it was on me. Either way – it was an easy fix.

It’s straight back to orders for me but I have my Cleo pattern lined up for the next available clothes making slot – and this time I’m keeping it 😉 x