Tango outfits - vol 2

When I was sewing the tango outfits for my dear sister H, I knew I would not have much time and I wanted to use the 2-3 days we had together to a maximum. So the strategy was pretty simple - fit a dress pattern (Nettie dress) and use it as a basic for all other variations. In order to speed up the fitting process, I sewed a Nettie dress from black ponte (the same material as all the colorful ones) and fitted to myself (and kept it, hehehehe, but more on that later). I would then very quickly see all the adjustments needed for my sister (almost none, as it is a very forgiving jersey pattern and we are very close in size) and sew a dress for her.

Once this is OK, then I can do everything from dresses, to tops and skirts. H was not very keen on starting with a dress, as she prefers separates, however, I was the one sewing, so I started sewing a dress anyhow - the first one was this blue flowery one.

Funnily enough, when we got to skirts, she suddenly did not want only a simple jersey tube skirt, but something "special". I found Burda 110-05/2013 quite a funny pattern, I was just worried about the weight of the ponte.

My sister could not imagine it at all. I must admit that the pattern was presented in a Burda "tropical collection" and we all know how Burda can be inventive, so that was just too much for her. In the end, we tried anyhow, since we had an almost the same yellow fabric for this. Although I did not double the pieces, as advised by Burda for some sheer fabric they were using and then took A LOT of time to try to understand how the skirt was constructed. Fortunately, this was one of the rare Burda patterns explained with images and schemas and not only words. It was kind of a puzzle, but I liked the challenge. And definitely a kind of pattern I do not usually sew for myself.

The only thing I would somehow change is the back which is a simple elastic, so if I wanted it to be perfect, it would need some darts, which I am not used to in jersey clothes.

And the result is just... amazing. We just love it! The only regret I have is that it does not make much sense to make another one in a different colour because it is such a special pattern.

As for the second skirt, this is a mix up of the Nettie dress and Burda 120-05/2013, the same I did for this dress. Again, the waist is a simple large elastic, but since my sister is quite slim, it works quite well as well.

Last, but not least, the tube tops. These are based on the Nettie dress as well, and they were a great way to use up all the scraps.

Do you have a piece of jersey, let's do a tube top. I stabilized the top of the top with an elastic, and there is not much to do with it anymore.