Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Recent Sewing

Since I'm planning some vacation sewing, I thought I'd share a recent make.  This was finished a while ago, and I wore it to NYC for our anniversary, but totally forgot to take a picture until today, when I decided to move my dress form out of the living room after a brief stay of about 3 months.

The pattern is the Mandy Boatneck Tee, a freebie from the Tessuti Fabrics blog.  I gave it a try because I liked their drape top pattern.  Most of their patterns are one-size-fits-most, and this was no exception.  The only real place where size matters (minds out of the gutters, ladies!) is your arms, because the sleeve piece is quite narrow.  The sleeve was also narrow on the drape top, so I guess their fit model has skinny arms, poor undernourished girl.  The sleeve is a shaped tube that attaches to a very dropped shoulder, so the size of your biceps shouldn't be too much of an issue.

If you decide to give this a shot, I'd recommend measuring just to be sure.

The fabric is a sweater knit I picked up at London Textiles on my shopping trip with Claudine and Andrea this fall.  It looked and felt expensive, but when I asked, it turned out to be a poly blend and was only $8 per  yard.  I tend to only buy remnants at London Textiles, but  I can be persuaded to change my mind for the right sweater knit at the right price.  Actually, I can be persuaded to change my mind quite often with regard to fabric.  My only rule when visiting London Textiles (since their remnant bins are really low priced) is that it all has to fit in the bag I take with me).

Final review: nice top, nothing too special, but a good basic shape to show off a special fabric.  Also, it's nice sometimes to have something not fitted that doesn't look like a sack.  I may not be in love with my current lack of defined waist, but I don't want to look like I'm wearing a trash bag, either.

I'm making a variation on this top right now, as a birthday gift for an online friend (her birthday is today and mine is Friday, so we're doing a gift exchange).  Probably the thing I like the least is the boat neck -- I always think I like them, until I wear them -- so I've swapped in the cowl neck from my favorite KwikSew cowl top pattern, and I'm doing some hand applique a la Alabama Chanin.  Right now, it's in the stage where I'm not sure if it's fabulous or a disaster.  When I make that decision, I'll show it to you.






3 comments:

SEWN said...

Love this top and the fabric!

Happy birthday! Can't wait to see you soon!

Linda T said...

Love the stripes! Glad you are getting to sew yourself some things!

Emily said...

Is London Textiles in Cherry Hill? I think I found their website, though it says they are a wholesaler with a 10 yard minimum? I'm new to the Philly area, and I've been to Fabric Row many times already, but sometimes leave frustrated when I can't find what I want. I'd love to know about this resource!