Know Me 2015

If you didn’t see on social media I recently had the pleasure of attending the Minerva Birthday Event, hosting a series of workshops and demos during the day and guest judging the catwalk competition with Sewing Bee’s Patrick Grant during the evening.

I chose to merge the Know Me 2015 bustier top with the Vogue 9343 flared skirt. And used the Minerva Exclusive beautiful Popcorn jelly cotton sateen. It was stable enough for the construction of the bodice but swishy enough for the full skirt.

A bustier style wasn’t an obvious choice for my Minerva Birthday Bash outfit but I was feeling daring. I’ve made boned garments before and enjoy the support but hadn’t made an underwired garment that wasn’t a swimsuit before.

My local Boyes had this lovely velvet ribbon in a variety of widths, where the colour perfectly matched the hot pink in the sateen print. I added thick velvet ribbon bows as shoulder straps, and tied the narrow piece around my waist as a belt, but I must confess I prefer it without the belt.

This pattern starts at a C cup but I was able to grade it down to a B cup. It actually took me three toiles to get the fit right – first I made the C cup, then I graded to an A (too small) and then graded back up to a B. The instructions include steps for adding foam and underwires and there is a video sewalong for this design if you like to follow along with someone. 

I felt very glamorous and enjoyed the little touches like the full skirt and velvet ribbons but I think the gap between the two cups is a little big and I’m not sure it 100% suits me. There’s a new Madalynne for Simplicity bustier dress pattern arriving in the UK before Christmas which is near identical to my dress and has more cup sizes. So if you’re keen to try this style and have a super small or large bust, I’d say hang on for that pattern since Madalynne is a lingerie expert and will get you the best fit possible.