REMNANT 101: A Simple Camisole

A realisation that I have come to recently is that I am horrifically bad at underestimating the amount of fabric I need for a sewing project. Not when I'm buying fabric off the bolt - if anything I almost buy far too much, but then I like to be on the safe side. Instead, I mean when I'm buying fabric remnants. With one look at a piece of fabric a little over a metre squared, I convince myself that it's plenty to make myself a short-sleeved summery top. As you'd expect, it isn't nearly enough.

After a sort out of my fabric stash lately, I rediscovered this lovely navy spotty floral remnant (a synthetic of some kind) that I'd bought in this frame of mind. I really do love this fabric, it has a lovely drape to it (aahh, I wish I was better at identifying fabrics!), and navy features heavily in my wardrobe, so I knew I wanted to turn it into something wearable. As we'd been having a spate of boiling hot weather, I made something I don't think I would have considered otherwise - a halter-neck camisole.

Now, I'm not usually one for sleeveless clothes, just because when it's really sunny I'm very conscious of feeling the sun on my paler than pale arms, and it's just easier to cover up than have to think about SPF every few hours. However, I have been wearing some on the more overcast, muggy days, when there's little danger of sunburn, but I definitely need to feel cool. In fact, I'm a little bit of a sleeveless convert, and have been enjoying wearing a simple top with jeans or a trusty denim skirt. When I saw this pin, I instantly paired it with the fabric in my stash, and seeing as it looked like a simple shape, decided to draft one up for myself.

This simple project only requires three pattern pieces (hurrah!) and some basic sewing skills, so you can get this finished easily in one day. You will need roughly 1 metre squared of a fabric with soft drape, and something to use for the straps (ribbon or rouleau work great).

Template:

You'll need to make a template for this top (one template is all you'll need for the three pattern pieces). To do this, take a basic t-shirt (you won't need to cut this up, don't worry), and using the paper of your choice (I used jazzy wrapping paper) trace a similar shape as the one seen to the left. This has an exaggerated curved armhole, and a high neck (you'll need to make the neck quite long, as you'll need to turn it over a couple of times).


Remembering to add 2cm (1") for seam allowances, use this template to cut out your pattern pieces - you will need:

--> 2 Back pieces
--> 1 Front piece (cut on the fold)

Any extra remnants could be used to make rouleau straps (I tried to do this but failed miserably! Rouleau straps are next on my practise list.).





Sewing Up:

1. Hem the armholes on each of the three pieces (the front piece will have two armholes, one either side).

2. Sew the two back pieces together along the straight vertical edge, leaving 25cm (10") free at the top for the split at the reverse of the top). I french seamed all of my seams for a tidy finish (the extra effort doing so was really worth it!).

Here is the centre back seam, before separating into the split (the busy print makes it hard to see the french seam!).

3. Hem either side of the centre back seam split (the section which has not been sewn together).

4. On both the front and back pieces, hem along the top of the neckline.

5. Fold the neckline down 2cm (1") to the wrong side of the fabric, and stitch along the bottom, leaving a gap for your straps to thread through.

These two photos show the stitching on the neckline, and the section through which the straps are thread through.

6. Sew your front and back pieces together along the sides (again I french seamed this).

7. Hem along the bottom of your camisole, ensuring an even length across the front and back.

8. Thread your long strip of ribbon or rouleau through the drawstring section along the neckline. Start at one of the open gaps on the back split, before going through the length of the front, and through the other side of the back, to meet the ends in the middle. I actually used bias binding for this; it was a bit of a pain having to sew the open edges of the bias together to create more of a strap, but I'd fallen in love with this crochet edged bias, so had to use it!

The drawstring neckline means that this camisole can be worn one of two ways - with the neckline loose, or pulled tighter for a more extreme halter-neck. Oh - and there's no rules as to which is the front or back. Personally, I prefer the split and tie at the back, but I could totally see this working at the front too.

Even though I have loved sewing and wearing this top, there are just a couple of things I would change next time around. You can see in these photos that the lack of bust darts means that the drapey fabric tends to pool around the chest area. I'm hoping that the addition of bust darts would also prevent the fabric from bellowing out at my waistline (not the most flattering of shapes!). Also there's a little excess fabric around the armholes, but this needs a little working out, as there needs to be a little excess in order to allow the top to change from the loose style neckline, to the tighter, more halter-neck version.

Overall though, I'd class this project as a success when it comes to using up those remnants which are a little large, but not large enough. As much as I love pattern drafting, I'm at that stage where I feel that I learn far more using an actual pattern, so perhaps next time I'll try out the Sorbetto or this camisole pattern from Spit Up & Stilettos. Has anyone tried either of these? Let me know what you thought!

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial - if you're looking for more ways to use up your remnants then have a look through the Remnant 101 Archives.