DIYs, Dressmaking & sewing, Featured

A Liberty print Flora top

March 26, 2017
Flora top And She Made

I didn’t intend this Liberty fabric I bought just before Christmas to become a hack of the By Hand London Flora pattern, or indeed a top at all. But, after making (and failing badly at) a pleated skirt using the fabric, I decided I had enough fabric left to eke out a top from it. And I’m glad I did.

For anyone who has had any experience of Liberty fabrics, they’re incredibly thin and need lining, but this one, described by the Ebay seller I bought it from as being thicker than the usual tana lawn, is a crepe cotton. Although I wouldn’t disagree with the seller’s comments about it being thicker, I still found I needed to line it and used some remnant chambray fabric to give it a bit of structure. I’d also say that there’s a special quality about a Liberty tana lawn cotton and, as much as I love the print on this one, its texture isn’t as aesthetically pleasing!

The most exciting part of this project was, for me, the added touches. I spent a little bit longer on this one, purely to add something beautiful to the insides. As well as lining my top with the blue chambray cotton fabric, I also used a contrasting bias binding for the bodice insides (*cough* to hide the rough edges) which I enjoyed pairing with the blue of the main fabric and the blue of the chambray.

Flora top

Flora topThe fabric I used was Liberty’s Tatum fabric in the blue colour way, which I bought on Ebay, and the bias binding was in the orange colourway, from Etsy. I’m a big fan of the Tatum print. Ever since I made this beautiful dress for my friend Phoebe’s wedding almost two years ago now (in the purple colourway if you’re wondering), I’ve been looking for an excuse to use the blue colourway.

I’d definitely like another excuse to make something in Tatum. Perhaps I could replicate this one in with the orange colourway as the main and the blue as the bias binding. Or is that a bit too weird?

You Might Also Like

2 Comments

  • Reply Anna March 27, 2017 at 7:20 am

    The fabric is gorgeous, I think a summer top is the perfect way to use it

    • Reply Aneira March 28, 2017 at 9:09 pm

      Thanks Anna! 🙂

    Leave a Reply