[fashion] handmade Bambi peasant top

Here is another handmade lolita/otome top, made from Otome no Swing volume 19. I just wanted to sew something from the latest volume to be on trend, using this print remnant cotton I think I got at Michaels. It was at most 1.5 yards, a thin cotton with a repeating small pattern of Disney’s Bambi and Thumper and flowers. Bambi was one of my favorite movies as a kid, and I had to grab this because it was 50% off remnant. The pattern called for 2 meters for size large, and I decided to go ahead with what I had, in order challenge myself to make a different style of top (raglan sleeves) and maybe get a wearable muslin test run out of it.

As usual, with a limited amount of fabric, I had to sacrifice a few things. According to the pattern, I needed to get bodice, sleeves, bottom ruffle, ties and bodice facing out of the fashion fabric, but I sacrificed the bodice facing since no one was going to see it, and I trimmed off 1 inch from the width of the sleeves to get it on the same cut of fabric (instead of having to jigsaw it), and the ties are like an inch or two short but still tie up just fine.  This pattern also called for premade bias binding, so I made all of the bias binding and facings out of scraps of off-white muslin cotton in my stash. I used 2 different packets of Daiso cotton cluny lace to trim the sleeves and bottom hem, and there was elastic needed for the sleeves and waist. At the end I had a narrow rectangle of fabric that isn’t really enough to make anything except some small bows, which I didn’t feel like making.

The steps were easy to follow even in Japanese, and the final product is cute and fairly comfortable, although I wouldn’t call it trendy or flattering at all. My main gripe is that the torso is short (you are supposed to make a high-waist empire dress by lengthening the ruffles into a skirt, or wear the top as is with a high waist skirt), so I probably wouldn’t wear it except as a pajama top or out on a picnic or beach trip in the spring or summer (so…. not in the next 3 months lol) because my belly would be exposed. My next complaint is with the style of constructing these tops – there are a lot of raw edges in the facing and bottom ruffle attachment that can’t be finished except by zigzag/overlocking, which I despise. The resulting zigzag edge is not smooth or comfortable against the skin, but if I try to bind it or fold it over or use any other finishing technique, the gathered fabric layers are then too bulky at the waist, trust me, I’ve tried it before. I can’t think of any alternative to have a smooth, non-bulky finished interior, except maybe pinking or uhh, not finishing it all lol. If you have ideas, let me know. All straight seams have been sewn using French seams, the facing was zig-zag stitched, so it’s just the curved sleeve seam and the ruffle seam that need finishing.

Would I make this again? I wouldn’t, despite how cute it looks on the flatlay. I don’t like elastic or bunched fabric on my tummy, and I want all interior edges finished neatly and without discomfort when worn. Also it takes so much thread to sew those channels and then you have to get the elastic into the channels which is annoying. But I’m glad to have tried this style out, it’s super easy to fit a variety of sizes, none of this fussy setting a sleeve into the armhole, and the forest print works well with the romance peasant cottagecore vibe. To improve its wearability, I would use bias binding to make one channel of elastic at the waist instead of three channels with facing, and then try to flatfell seam the ruffle onto the bodice to avoid raw edges though I doubt that would work. Overall 7.5/10 with my personal preferences taken into account, nothing against the pattern or fit or instructions.