Salme Double Layer Camisole, aka ALL the pineapples.

I’m currently in the midst of my final exams at university (should I be blogging right now? Probably not…) so the majority of my time is being spent trying to remember everything that’s been said to me in the last nine months. However, there is only so much maths that can enter into my brain at any one time so, I took some time out last weekend to whip out a quick sewing project.

This is the Double Layer Camisole from Salme Sewing Patterns. I first bought the pattern last summer when I was inspired by Katie’s awesome tumbling cats top and while I was working in Staines I made one in some Tana Lawn found on Goldhawk Road. I had a few issues with the fit, namely that the straps were set too far apart and falling down my shoulders at every opportunity. I also ended up having to put splits in the inner hem as I somehow messed up my hip measurement, so all in all things could have fit better! This time I decided to learn from my mistakes by both moving the strap position in by about an inch on both sides and cutting out the right size in the first place, measuring the pattern to see how much ease is available.

I bought the fabric for this top again from Goldhawk Road for somewhere around £2 per metre (!). It’s very lightweight and exceedingly sheer (as illustrated by the above image – good use for old revision notes), but I fell for the pineapples and took it as a challenge, seeing as I hadn’t sewn with similar fabric before. Cutting out was a bit of a headache due to both the lack of space I had available and the slipperiness of the fabric, but I’ve managed to get a decent pattern match going from the front to the back. Sewing it up wasn’t quite as challenging as I’d expected and my machine coped well with the slippery fabric. The construction’s very clever in that the double layer acts as both a lining and a way to trap the straps in a neat manner. This leaves the inside of the top just as neat as the exterior, although I did brandish my pinking shears to neaten the only raw edge left around the neckline so that it (hopefully) doesn’t fray after washing.

I’m really pleased with this top as it fits a lot better than my first attempt at the pattern and it works really well with this soft, drapey fabric. It also goes well with a lot of my other clothes (although I probably don’t need more navy…) and fills the gap that I seem to have in my wardrobe of me-made tops. I’m hoping to make a few more after exams in similar fabrics as this will be a really nice top for summer days that is still a bit smarter than your normal vest top.