Tilly and the Buttons Stevie Pattern Hack
AND sewn from a Quilt Panel

Followers of mine will not be surprised to see another Llama make, I just really love them and so when I caught sight of this quilt panel, I couldn’t resist it… But a quilt was not what I had in mind. I had no idea at first what it was going to be, but I knew I didn’t want to create a quilt, I fancied an experiment in what else could be made from a quilt panel. Many things went through my brain because of course cushion would have been easy, or even a bag… but I fancied way more of a challenge than that. I kept going back to the idea of a top and couldn’t shift this vision I had created so I grabbed the Tilly and the Buttons Stevie pattern from the shelf and set to work figuring out how I could make what I was envisioning.

I’ve made the Stevie a couple of times before, something that always helps when you’re planning to manipulate a pattern as you will have a much better visual on how it comes together. The biggest challenge with this panel was the vast quantity of white (and not being a thick fabric its somewhat see-through white at that) so I knew I wanted to add in some colour to really make it pop. After a rummage through my stash, I found that I had a near on identically coloured piece of mustard (the green or pink would have also worked but sadly the bits I had in those colours weren’t quite the right shade).

If you’re new to Stevie, it is a really simple boxy top/dress pattern with a yoke at the back that has fabric ties to secure by the back neckline. I wanted to make the yoke in the mustard accent but felt it would look somewhat odd having the colour stop halfway across the sleeves so adapted the pattern for a raglan style look. This is a really easy adjustment (see the pictures for reference)…

1. Draw the line you’re going to use on the front going from the underarm to somewhere on the neck edge (I used a ruler and made it straight but there is no reason it couldn’t be curved, it’ll just make it slightly more complex to sew).
2. Cut along this line and then add seam allowance to this on both the main front and the now sleeve (I do this by taping on an extra bit of paper but you could re-trace the whole piece if you prefer).
3. You could very well leave it at that and use as is, but to remove the extra seam I cut the shoulder seam allowance off both the sleeve and the back yoke and taped the two together to create one piece.

Any pattern piece can be cut up to add different colours/fabrics in, provided that seam allowance is added on to both pieces after they’ve been separated, they will go back together and not affect the how the rest of the garment goes together. It’s a really fun technique to play with (I have a hoody in mind to do this to for a two-toned affect).

Now the pattern was ready to use I began placing my pattern pieces onto the fabric. I wanted the llama image to sit off centre, so I folded the image with the sun sitting central and then placed the pattern piece there. For the lower back pieces, I patched the patterned strips together to create a new piece of fabric to use for this (This was just about wide enough to do for the size 3, if you need to make in a large size you may have to do this differently or have a bit more white space between the prints). The yoke/sleeve piece was in the accent mustard I added from my stash and then all the remaining pieces such as the facings, ties and cuffs fit on the white that was left over from cutting out the front.

The top stitched together beautifully… but about half-way through I realised that I’d made an error. As I held it up against me and looked into the mirror, I instantly knew what I had done… it’s a pattern I have stored in my studio twice (as I purchased it as a pdf) once in my size and once in my friend’s size as I’d made her one before. I contemplated whether there was anything I could do to make it bigger but there is a fair few sizes difference between the two of us so just decided to run with the hilarity of me having unintentionally made her a top knowing that she’d enjoy the impromptu gift.

This top is so cool, I am absolutely thrilled with it. The creative use of the quilt block, the colour blocking, the way the printed strips work on the back, it just has this really cool vibe about it. I’m not sure I’m ready for a matching top with my friend but I may have to have a look through the other quilt panels to make myself one with a different design.

So, other than reminding you all to check you’re making the right size before you cut… I’d like to also tell you to buy the quilt panel and get creative, I had a lot of fun with this one!


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