A Stitching Odyssey: Copycat - Tilly's Summery Mathilde

Ever make something you know for a fact won't suit you, just because you really want it to? Sounds warped, but it's exactly what happened to me when I saw Tilly's Summery Mathidle. Perfect for this glorious weather we're having, I thought, even though I knew full well how disastrous the combination of gathers and a large bust would be.

As predicted, the gathers rather obviously part my boobs (just like the red sea) and make them look super saggy...a look every girl surely strives for!?!

I can hide a toddler under there. Hell, I could even smuggle a fully grown human if I wanted to!

However, just because it doesn't suit me doesn't mean I don't love this Mathidle variation. If you have a smaller bust you should totally try it out - after all, look how adorable Tilly is sporting hers! And it has some really cute details that you'd be a fool to pass by: floaty sleeves, back buttons and gentle gathers (that I sadly can't recommend for large busts)!

You can see my full 'review' of the Mathilde pattern and its construction from when I tested it back in January. For this version I just followed Tilly's tutorial for short sleeves and replaced the fiddly tucks with easy peasy gathers. In a desperate attempt to make it suit me better I even shaped the side seams to eliminate some of the pattern's boxiness. I simply measured the distance from my lower armhole (the base of my armpit basically) to my waist and marked it on my front and back pattern pieces, approximately 1 inch in from the edge. I then sketched out my desired, hourglass silhouette, which you can see drawn onto the pattern piece below in red.

You can see how this has subtly changed the shape of the blouse, making it look slightly more figure-hugging.

Staying true to my inner copycat I even donned sunglasses for my 'shoot' and used a floral Liberty lawn - sorry Tilly, but they do say imitation is the greatest form of flattery! The Liberty lawn cost just £8 a metre from a stall at the Birmingham Rag Market. Although this is cheap for Liberty, it was the most expensive thing I bought during our meet-up last month, so I could only face getting the 1 metre. But, I still managed to squeeze this blouse out of it by disobeying the grainline instructions. I wouldn't recommend living on the edge like this regularly, but throwing caution to the wind honestly doesn't make a difference when using this kind of fabric to make this kind of pattern...if you know what I mean!

If nothing else, I enjoyed making this super quick Mathilde and I now have a very pretty and a very comfortable top to lounge around the house in during this warm weather. Which is pretty apt really, considering I was recently bemoaning my lack of nice 'home clothes' when Karen brought up the subject last week.

Are you a lady who can carry this kind of top off in public? If so, I hate you are you tempted by this Mathilde variation?

Also fellow Britain residents...are you too pinching yourselves daily over this amazing weather? I can't believe we're actually getting a summer! And, no, I'm not exaggerating foreign readers...this is a novelty for us!