I’m not sure if this is back to front, super organised or out of sequence, but what I do know is that I haven’t blogged about sewing for a long, long time.

As yet I haven’t posted any end of year summaries nor new year pledges anywhere on social media, which isn’t to say I won’t – it’s still only early January. What I can say for certain is that I’ve sewn up a garment, from start to finish ~ and ~ more surprisingly, I’ve worn it and got photos, hence the promptness of this post.

I traced off the Tilly and the Buttons Cleo over a year ago. Since then it’s sat in my cupboard and been overlooked whilst I’ve sewn up various others, as well as a significant period when the cupboard doors remained unopened. I purchased this pretty pansy-print Liberty denim from Fabworks a some point over the last year or so, and seem to think I did so with a Cleo in mind. I don’t remember how much I paid for it ~ it is Liberty so wasn’t super cheap, but maybe around £12-£15pm?

I haven’t made anything similar to the Cleo before and haven’t made much using denim really. I neglected to prewash the fabric (oops) and would have ideally made a muslin in a cheaper fabric, but I dove straight in and crossed my fingers: I knew I would take greater care with the make if I used such lovely fabric.

There’s no need for me to detail the ins and outs of the make. It’s straightforward and my only modification was to add 2 inches to the mini length ~ Tilly’s patterns always come up short on me! I also caught the straps in the overlocker slightly, so have a small frayed patch but it’s barely noticeable and should hold out ok. I used some vintage buttons. I used my overlocker as much as possible, including to finish the hem before pressing it up ~ I kept it as narrow as possible to maximise the length.

I have no idea why I have this odd authoritative expression in this photo

Although it’s hard to tell on the photos, I added the pocket at the front plus the two hip pockets at the back. I cut the front on the fold but top stitched the centre back seam as well as around each of the pockets plus all around the top edge once it was all assembled. I used regular navy thread; I could’ve used a dark red to match yet stand out but wasn’t brave enough. Maybe next time.

Overall I’m really pleased with how this dress turned out! It’s lovely and neat inside ~ unheard of for me ~ and the fit is fine, even though it’s not a particularly fitted style. It’s still on the short side (imagine if I *hadn’t* added those 2 inches?) but other than that the only fault I can find with it is that the straps keep coming unhooked! I’m wondering if I swapped them for proper jeans buttons if this would improve?

My final problem is I have so few plain tops, or non-patterned garments full stop, I don’t have much choice of what I can wear it with. Cue some fabric shopping perhaps…