I am becoming such a fan of Liz Haywood’s zero waste patterns, so when she released the Cendre top I bought it automatically as I’ve found that all her other patterns fit perfectly into my wardrobe. I did have reservations, I have to admit. Those puffy sleeves with my out of proportion top would just emphasise the problem, and I didn’t think that frills or ties were for me. However, the boat neck with the waist tie might work.

Deep breath, no toile, I just went for it.

I chose a rather lovely Indian cotton that I got from Fibers to Fabrics as part of a prize. It’s dyed with a mud resist and I’m always so impressed with the skill. The pattern required 140cm x 110cm wide. My fabric was 150cm x 112cm. I didn’t want to waste that extra 10cms, which was reduced a little bit once I’d straightened the fabric, so I decided to put darts in the top which required an extra 4cms.

Having prepared it all, I struggled to identify the correct side of the fabric so I used my phone’s camera zooming. I still had no idea and suspect that the make uses both sides of the fabric!

Green is my favourite colour, but I don’t have enough in my wardrobe, so this is a welcome addition.

Zero waste patterns terrify me a bit. Measurements have to be exact, and I find myself checking and rechecking before committing scissors to fabric. However, once I’ve made the first cut I’m fine.

The actual making was really simple. I came to the bit where I was going to create the darts and did a try on and decided that I didn’t need the darts after all. This meant that my top was really long, so I whipped the 4cms back off the bottom and used the resultant strips instead of ribbon on the cummerbund.

A close look at the make will reveal that the pattern is running sideways. This is because of the way the pattern is drawn on to the fabric. I considered going the other way, but decided I might mess it up if I deviated from the pattern design. I am not too upset by the direction of the pattern, although a purist might hyperventilate.

I really love the effect caused by the belt. Since taking these photos though, I have added another buttonhole to make it a little tighter and feel as though a third may be necessary.

I also tied it at the back instead of the front, just to mix things up a little. This photo was taken as I was about to leave home to go shopping.

I love the sleeves, which were the biggest source of reservation for me.

I am not very good at gathering, but they finished up pretty well. I used a scrap of fabric to make ties, rather than using elastic, as Liz suggests.

The belt also makes the top a little shorter, which works well, as it is quite long.

Here it is, worn without the belt..

I may wear it like this on a really hot day.

Somehow I managed to capture myself about to do the watering! I include it to show that I was wearing it to do chores!

So how zero waste was the make? Keeping in mind that I had a little more fabric than specified, this is what I finished up with, using my mother’s shears for scale.

Pretty good!

I won this beautiful cotton fabric in an Instagram challenge through @Rylissbod and it comes from Fibers to Fabrics, a lovely Indian shop on Etsy. I note that this fabric is once again available, should you be interested.