Sally’s Cleo Pinafore and Barbie Top!
Hey all! How are we all doing? At last there is light at the end of the tunnel with Lockdown 3.0 so it got me motivated to finally make my Tilly and The Buttons Cleo Pinafore and Charm Patterns Barbie Top.
I decided to go for the beautiful bordeaux baby cord which I have used in the rust colourway for the Tilly and the Buttons Bobbi which was just so easy to use and great quality. For a pop of pink for a change I went for the Pink with black spots as I have used the red colourway before too and it’s sooo soft and easy to sew with also.
What is it with Cats and boxes? As soon as my parcel arrived my mog had to investigate and of course claim it as his own!
I’ve recently become a Paetron for Charm patterns and this fabulous top is exclusively available to its members and it just screamed at me to be made. I decided to go for long sleeves as up North it’s never as warm as in other parts of the UK.
Cutting it out was a breeze with my rotary cutter as I seem to keep my dressmaking scissors as a back up as I prefer using a rotary cutter.
According to the measurements i was a size 12 D but i still had to take it in at the shoulders by a massive 1” at each side! I will definitely size down to a 10 next time. Then my usual sleeve adjustment of shortening by 2.
The pattern doesn’t call to stabilise the shoulder seams, which i found a bit strange so i decided to use some knit tape just to make sure they dont sag or get distorted with wearing.
Since this is a jersey garment, it can be made in a matter of hours from cutting out to being sewn up.
In my opinion, no jersey garment isn’t complete without a twin needle finished hem and a garment label.
Now onto Cleo!
I decided to go for a bit of contrast for the facing and used the lovely burgundy gingham cotton.
Just be warned when cutting/sewing with cord. It likes to make a mess so remember to clean your machine out at regular intervals, don’t want no mishaps!
Since the Cleo is a Tried and True Pattern i was able to whip this up in no time. For this version I decided to put hip pockets in. A girl can’t have too many pockets.
Silly me had misplaced the buttons that Caroline and Flis originally sent me! So i had to choose between these 3 and since i’m a sucka for a novelty button, i decided on the red glitter love heart!
I quite like sewing on buttons as you can get comfy on the sofa while doing a bit of hand sewing plus there is always a brew and a biccie close by.
For the Pinafore, I made the Mini version and started at a size 6 and graded to size 8 to the Hips.
So here is my outfit out in the Wild! Well on the way to do food shopping,
At the moment the only reason to get dressed is to go to work/food shopping so i might as well do it me made in style eh! Plus, who can’t resist a loo selfie! Hahahah!
Happy Sewing!
Sally xx
