Finally Making Something for Me!
I spend an awful lot of time sewing things for other people.
Cushions, clothes, gifts, commissions… there always seems to be something or someone waiting for me at the sewing machine.
So this time, I decided I was actually going to make something for me.
Yes. ME!
I know. Shocking.
It Started With a SHEIN Top…
I'd bought a top from SHEIN that I really liked the shape of. From the front it looked quite simple, but the back was what I really loved, open-backed with ties.
There was just one problem.
I wanted it longer.
I wanted something that would sit at a length I felt comfortable wearing and give me a bit more coverage over my belly.
So, in true Rhiannon style, did I carefully search online for a similar sewing pattern?
Of course I didn't.
I cut the top up.
Why buy a pattern when you can take a perfectly wearable item of clothing, attack it with scissors and hope for the best?
Making My Own Pattern
Once I'd taken the original top apart, I could use the individual pieces to work out my own pattern.
The idea was to keep the features I liked about the original but adapt it to suit me — particularly by adding the extra length.
And, amazingly, it was actually going pretty well.
Suspiciously well, in fact.
Whenever that happens, I should know by now that something is coming.
Oh Look… Holes!
The fabric I'd chosen for my first attempt was only supposed to be for a mock-up.
The sensible plan was to make it once in cheaper fabric, check the fit, make any adjustments and then cut into the lovely fabric I'd bought for the finished version.
Look at me being all sensible and professional!
Except I'd failed to properly consider one tiny detail.
My mock-up fabric had little holes in it.
Which meant my simple practice version suddenly needed…
A lining.
Of course it did.
Because apparently I am completely incapable of making anything straightforward.
So my quick little mock-up became a fully lined top.
At this point, I'm not even surprised anymore.
All This for a Mock-Up
There is something particularly ridiculous about carefully lining a garment that you're making purely to check whether another garment will work.
But actually, I'm glad I did.
It gave the top more structure, helped me see how the finished design would sit and meant I could properly test my homemade pattern before going anywhere near the fabric I really cared about.
And that fabric was the whole reason I'd started this little project.
The Fabric I've Been Saving
I'd found some gorgeous fabric that immediately reminded me of Ted Baker designs.
Beautiful, bold and exactly the sort of fabric where you stand looking at it thinking:
"I really don't want to cock this up."
Which is precisely why I decided to make a mock-up first.
For once, I wasn't going to dive straight in, cut up the expensive fabric and then discover I'd made something three sizes too small, forgotten a seam allowance or somehow created an armhole where the neckline should be.
Growth.
Apparently it does happen.
Making Clothes That Work for Me
That's probably my favourite thing about making your own clothes.
You don't have to accept whatever length, fit or shape a shop has decided you should wear.
If I want my top longer, I can make it longer.
If I want a different neckline, I can change it.
If something doesn't sit quite right on my body, I can adjust it.
And if I buy a top I love but wish they'd designed one part differently…
Well, apparently I can just cut the bloody thing up and make my own.
There's something quite liberating about that.
This wasn't just about copying a SHEIN top. It was about taking an idea I liked and turning it into something that worked better for me.
And considering how often I'm behind the sewing machine making things for everyone else, it felt really rather nice to finally be the person I was sewing for.
Now I just had to get brave enough to cut into that gorgeous Ted Baker-style fabric…
What could possibly go wrong? Finally Making Something for Me!
Before You Go…
If you’ve enjoyed reading about my latest make, mishap or “I’ve got absolutely no idea what I’m doing, but let’s give it a go” moment, there’s plenty more where that came from!
💌 Sign up so you don’t miss my next blog — you never quite know what I’ll be making (or messing up) next.
📖 Have a nose through my other blogs for more sewing adventures, crafty ideas, successes, disasters and general behind-the-scenes chaos.
🛍️ Pop over to More Shabby Than Chic to see what I’ve been making and what’s currently available.
And if you’ve enjoyed this one, leave me a comment — I genuinely love hearing from you.
Until next time… keep making, keep laughing, and remember: handmade doesn’t have to mean perfect. ❤️
Rhiannon
More Shabby Than Chic
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