TAUKO Magazine Make and Share

Do you follow TAUKO Magazine? They are a sewing magazine located in Europe (Helsinki and Berlin). Fun fact: the word "tauko" in Finnish means "a break or a pause" (you can read more about the magazine here). A few months ago, they put a call out for sewists for a Make and Share. We were given our choice of patterns from the upcoming issue. I chose Claudette, a pattern from designer Violette Tannenbaum. 

When I saw the preview of the patterns, I had just attended The Nutcracker with my family and was feeling super inspired by all things tulle. It was kismet! 

I got my copy of Claudette and fell over laughing when I saw the yardage requirements...13 yards! The entire dress is tulle, so I did some googling to find a high quality tulle at an affordable price. I ended up ordering from an overseas Etsy shop. There were TONS of colors and I am pleased with the quality.

Claudette is constructed with French seams, which are not difficult but are time-consuming. Tulle is basically impossible to mark or pin. I could use clips and ended up using tape when I needed to mark horizontal lines (important for adding the first tier of the skirt). There's a lot of static and cat hair got stuck in the tulle pretty easily.

Other than these issues, it wasn't super terrible to work with the tulle. I expected worse. The instructions were sufficient and the drafting was excellent.

I made a size 2 and modified the bodice by shortening it about 3". Otherwise it had a dropped waist look that I didn't think was as fun as this short version. I might even run a bit of elastic around the waist to pull it in more.

I did not end up using anywhere near as much tulle as I ordered. I omitted the ruffles across the chest/back, and the bottom tier. Each ruffle you see is two layers gathered together. It's a lot of fabric!

The sleeve pattern piece was absolutely hysterical and huge.

I ended up following the directions in the Fall 2023 issue of Sew News to create a tulle collar. It is removable and I sometimes like it, sometimes don't. It might be fun on another outfit but I haven't tried.

Of course this is a totally ridiculous, over-the-top garment that has few uses in the real world. I spend SO much time making practical garments that I decided it was fine to make something beautiful for the sake of making something beautiful. Kinda silly that I needed to give myself permission!

I want to thank the folks at TAUKO who made the entire Make and Share experience easy and fun. They have just unveiled a new subscription model, so please go take a look at that. I believe I will be receiving one additional pattern in exchange for posting my dress, and I've definitely got my eye on a few!