24 July 2015

Bettine from the Block

Bettine dress - sewing pattern by Tilly and the Buttons
Bettine dress - sewing pattern by Tilly and the Buttons

On a typical day in the T+TB studio, at least one of us will be wearing a Bettine dress – it’s become a bit of a staff uniform. We snapped these pics of Laura and Tilly in the corridor of our building, much to the amusement of neighbours and passing couriers (cringe). Two styles, two perspectives.

Laura’s going to tell you about hers first…

Bettine dress - sewing pattern by Tilly and the Buttons

“During the testing stage, Tilly asked me to be a guinea pig for the Bettine instructions by making my own dress. I am still really new to sewing and Bettine is the first dress that I have made myself. If I could understand the steps and make the garment without any issues, anyone could!

I knew Tilly had designed Bettine to be the perfect first dress project with no fiddly fastenings, but I was still slightly apprehensive. Would I really find it that simple…? The answer is – yes! I found the whole process very quick and easy, and most importantly, fun!

Bettine dress - sewing pattern by Tilly and the Buttons
Bettine dress - sewing pattern by Tilly and the Buttons

I decided to make things slightly harder for myself by making the version with pockets but even this was very straightforward. I did have to concentrate extra hard on the pockets, but once I had everything in front of me it all fell into place.

I used a lovely viscose fabric with an abstract monochrome print, gifted by Remnant Kings - it's on sale at the moment if you like it. The fabric is super soft, was lovely to work with, and the print helped to hide a multitude of sewing sins and not-quite-perfect stitching (heehee). The only question remaining is, what fabric will I choose for my next Bettine?"

Bettine dress - sewing pattern by Tilly and the Buttons

Over to Tilly!

Bettine dress - sewing pattern by Tilly and the Buttons

“I've sewn five Bettine dresses for myself so far, and this is one of the more recent ones. I used a super cool sunglasses print poly that I bought from Guthrie & Ghani (alas, it’s since sold out). You might recognise it from a post I wrote a few weeks ago on tips for sewing with slippery fabric.

A fancy print like this works really well on a sewing pattern like Bettine as it doesn't have many seams to break it up. The fabric is very lightweight and drapey, so gives the dress a lovely floaty silhouette. This dress is sooo easy to throw on in the morning with sandals or plimsoles, and the print makes it a really cute Summertime frock to wear out and about.

Bettine dress - sewing pattern by Tilly and the Buttons

The only slight problem I have with it is that the fabric likes to cling in awkward places, but there’s a trick for fixing that. Tumble dryer sheets. Rub one over the inside of your dress (preferably not in public) and it won’t cling anymore... well, until the next wash at least :)”

Bettine dress - sewing pattern by Tilly and the Buttons

Have you heard? We're having a Summer Sewing Instaspam Party on Sunday 9 August 2015 to celebrate the creativity you bring to our patterns. Share a pic of your Bettine dress or Fifi boudoir set on Instagram or Twitter that day, and use the hashtags #sewing and either #SewingBettine or #SewingFifi so we can all find each other at this party. Read more about it here. Hope to see you there!