I have made a new top!
A nice floaty loose top perfect for our fiercely hot summer days. And we’ve sure had a few stiflers lately :S so I will be wearing it immediatemente.
I used Rowan shot cotton… again. This colour is Clementine (and please note I am wearing it with my little lime-print skirt, hehe! gettit?)
I am so addicted to this fabric! It is gorgeously light, an almost not-even-there type of fabric. Which is great for this particular pattern. Why? Well, the pattern specifies French seams throughout, and has a number of convergent seams. Like where there are pleats on both front and back, joining together at the shoulder seam, and particularly! that centre front bit, where there are six French seams all converging to a single point in a star-shape, and themselves all being joined in a final French seam too… if your fabric was even a little bit bulky I would class this a quite a tricky area to get looking nice, and particularly situated where it is, right boom in the centre front of your top it pretty much has to be perfect! Luckily this shot cotton is so marvellously light it wasn’t too horrible a job, and I think I got it looking quite neat and tidy.
Of course you don’t have to do the French seams here if you wanted to make life easier for yourself… which I stubbornly do not 😉
I used a newbie-to-me pattern Vogue 1247. This was a Christmas present from Sam; but I’m still adding the cost of it to my little 2012 personal-clothing-expenditure ledger, since in reality I chose, sourced and bought it myself!! and he just “gave” it to me. We are very practical when it comes to present-giving in our family…
This pattern is classed as Average; a rating which was a little head-scratching to me. I guess maybe the instructions for finishing throughout with all French seams made them decide to up the difficulty rating a notch, since I can’t really think of any other feature that could make this pattern anything other than a very easy project easy imo!
The neckline is finished with a narrow self bias strip… Noice, no? at right; that convergence of French seams from the inside view
I really like the bias-cut facings, folded out over those kimono sleeves….
Narrow hem…
Since the neckline is quite wide I slip-stitched lingerie holders to the shoulder seams to keep those straps outasight, these were a gift from the very lovely Yoshimi… thank you so much Yoshimi!
Probably this top would be far more fabudabulous on a lady with.. er, more fabudabulous assets, but I’m still pretty happy with how it looks on me. I am planning to make the little skirt too, and will review that separately.
Ciao, bambini!
Details:
Top; Vogue 1247, shot cotton in Clementine, from here
Skirt; Vogue 7303 modified, lime print cotton
Sandals; anna, from MarieClaire shoes
What a fun pattern! I love all the details. And the color is gorgeous! Good job on all the french seams, very pretty!
This is lovely! The solid colour really shows off the lines of the pattern. The inside looks as good as the outside too!
Very nice! Perfect as you say for our hot Aussie summer days.
Btw in your first photo, the background with the blue sky and green grass reminds me of Teletubbies, Teletubbies….Did your kids watch this as much as mine when they were little? 🙂
You wear this top well and the French seams and lingerie straps bring elegance to your garment! I love it.
Question – I'm 5'2" (157 cm? ) and wonder if the length runs long and whether or not you find it bulky.
Thanks!
You wear this top well and the French seams and lingerie straps bring elegance to your garment! I love it.
Question – I'm 5'2" (157 cm? ) and wonder if the length runs long and whether or not you find it bulky.
Thanks!
Ooh, gorgeous! I love those shot cottons, especially this orange one. I also really like the seaming on the front of this blouse. I remember looking at that pattern in the store but I don't think I noticed all that detail before.
I love this pattern, especially in a solid, the detail just pop. Lovely work.
Wow, 6 French seams coming together at once! It's an unusual pattern; I like it. The fabric is particularly pleasing 🙂
Your sewing is absolutely lovely on this top. Of course, the top is lovely too!
What a lovely style. I bet it could be morphed into a great summer dress too. The orange really pops in your photos.
Thank you!
Goodbye Valentino; the Rowan shot cotton I used is quite lightweight, and so it's not bulky at all; on the contrary! Very loose and flow-y… and I would recommend lightweight fabrics for this pattern. The length feels OK to me (I'm 172cm) however you could always lop a little bit off the hemline if you did find it a bit too long…
I just bought that pattern on Friday! Thanks for the heads up about making it in a light fabric. I love the fabric you used, and the inside looks perfect. Beautiful work.
Oh,I love it! It would be perfect for our summers too.It barely touches your skin so it offers coolness, but enough coverage to protect you from the sun. The colour is lovely and suits you perfectly.
I'm familiar with this fabric, which is sold as quilting fabric, I'm glad to see that it makes such a nice garment since it comes in such gorgeous colors. I have this pattern too, I love the top and skirt. Looking forward to your version of the skirt.
Cute top in a gorgeous color!
Gorgeous top! love the colour.
I really like your summery citrus-colored outfit!
I love how you use interesting details like that star-shaped seam to liven up ordinary garments! Also, you remain the queen of seam finishings. 🙂 It looks lovely, especially paired with the lime skirt.
Love it! Your outdoor photos make me jealous of the gorgeous weather.
great, great version of v1247. looks comfy and stylish in those bold colors!
puu
i love the simplicity of it. Then when you look closer there are some really interesting design details, beautifully executed, as one would expect! And don't you look fresh and cool, as if the heat was not wilting you in the least!
WE do practical present giving in our house too. Which results in me not having a present to give Kevin on special occasions unless it is handmade. sigh. He usually has already bought it for himself. I like to give him the link and special instructions, so at least he can buy it for me. I love giving presents so sometimes I am frustrated by this, but I know next to nothing about tools or other manly things that interest him…
I wouldn't have looked twice at this pattern, as the print on the cover really doesn't do it justice. I love the fabric you have chosen but could see it in a cool summer blue as well. That skirt on the pattern also looks like a keeper.
Just simply gorgeous!
I love this in a plain fabric it really showcases the seam lines. Gorgeous.
Very nice indeed. You will love the skirt too.
You look absolutely pretty in the blouse. And thank you for letting me know that the small gift is actually helping you a bit. I'm really happy to hear that. The fabric seems so gorgeous from your writing, both color and texture. I think I'm going to try one of them, very soon!
It's beautiful fabric and actually quite a complicated, detailed blouse I realized as you pointed out the features of it.
Carolyn, could you email me at toofunny2 at gmail dot com? thx!
I love the orange and lime combination. It's always been one of my favourites. Your top looks very summery.
It's really lovely – I particularly like the seam lines on the front.
Beautiful! I really like the colour, and it goes very well with your skirt
Perfect for summer!
What else can I say than…perfect! I love the precision in your work. Thanks for the cotton tip, do you think it's suitable for these kaftan type shirts?
This is such a pretty and practical top for the hot weather. Beautifully constructed too!
Your version is so much prettier than the envelope's. The details are lost in a print, but are so nice in the shot cotton.
oooh, the colors! just enough of the 70s…
btw, have you retouched your picture? the colors are just amazing, and I love how the skirt takes the colors of the grass!