It’s been a while since I made a #BustersBee piece. It started off as a challenge to make the ‘made to measure’ challenges from the 4th series of The Great British Sewing Bee. It expanded to include any pattern featured in any of the four series or any of the accompanying books.

So far there is:

Blimey… that’s quite a collection when you see it all in one list. I hadn’t realised.

With the recent sad news of the possible demise of The Great British Sewing Bee, I thought it was time to open one of the books again.

MrA was away and I had our friend Corky round for supper. After we ate, we went through the Sewing Bee books to see if there was a pattern suitable for a 1m cut of fabric that Corky had picked up for £1. It has a pretty chrysanthemum pattern on it and feels like a really soft, light and floaty cotton lawn…?

We settled on the Draped Top from Book2, ‘Sew Your Own Wardrobe’.

There was only one size, claiming it fit ‘most’,  so I quickly traced out the 3 pieces and cut them out. It came together really quickly. I changed a couple of things as I went along…

I used French seams for the sides and attached the collar/ neck tie differently. More like a waistband:

  • I attached the tie back to the (gathered) front of the top first.
  • Then stitched the tie back sections (RST) and turned them through.
  • I closed up the neck band by stitching in the ditch from the front, catching the folded edge at the back.

It’s a lovely little top and the fabric suits it well. I’m surprised by the ‘one size fits most’ as Corky’s quite petite and it fit her well, but I don’t think it could have been any smaller. The shape looks well suited to flatter a fuller tummy also, but it came up surprisingly short.


As it’s a pretty straightforward shape it would be easy to make some simple adjustments to the length and width and get a great little summer top out of this. Or really extend it to a maxi dress. For the meantime she’s styling it out with high waisted jeans.

When the right time comes, I’ll definitely make another.


Happy sewing!

Notes to self:

  • Lengthen the body by 10cm min. All the way for maxi-dress. 
  • Extend the tie back. 
  • Possibly curve 10cm neck piece…?