I’m away from Melbourne visiting my parents this weekend, so couldn’t attend Nikki’s draped tops class.  But I’ve been having fun over the past few weeks making toiles from her soon-to-be-released draped top and dress pattern.

This dress is SO comfy! You caught a glimpse of an earlier incarnation back in January and I’ve already had loads of wear from it.

I also turned what had been a skirt into a fitted draped top (also a toile from Nikki’s soon-to-be-released draped top and dress pattern).

This one would have been better in fabric with a higher lycra content and cut a little wider through the body – it’s a little more fitted around my thick midriff than I prefer (although those folds and wrinkles are supposed to be there; they’re not all due to it being too tight!)

These tops and dresses are great fun to sew together, particularly if you have an overlocker. Side and shoulder seams, fold over the sleeve, neck and bottom hems and stitch with a twin needle (I usually stabilise them with double-sided adhesive Vilene tape first). The striped fabric was from the $2 per metre table at Darn Cheap Fabrics.  Not expensive at all, so it doesn’t matter if it doesn’t work out – but usually it does!

Enjoy this burst of slightly tropical summer weather on your long weekend, Victorians – and I hope that the weekend is a pleasant one for everyone else too.