Here I am, waiting for the ferry to head off into town, and so I took a quick, in-the-wild photo of my new top. Thanks, random bench! for being a good little makeshift tripod, and I don’t mind at all that you snuck into my photo!
OK. Remember how I said I had enough of the purple-y, wine-coloured silk/linen knit leftover after making this skirt for a little matching top? except with contrasting sleeves? well ok yeah; that explains the whole project, actually. Probably no need for me to babble on any longer!
Well, maybe just the bare details…
Fabric; silk/linen knit from KnitWit. Black pleather for the sleeves from Spotlight, leftover from some of my shoes and my moto jacket.
Pattern; the epaulette cut and sewn, pattern 4 from “she has a mannish style” by Yuko Takada. I just wanted a loose-ish, boxy kind of a plain Tshirt, fairly featureless. I have a pretty good, tried and true, woven Tshirt pattern that I tend to use, NewLook 6483; but I really wanted something with no bust shaping darts. I really really like the Named Inari tee pattern, which is super popular in the sewing community right now; for a good reason of course! however since I had this book already I thought I’d give the epaulette tee a whirl as a possible Inari tee stand-in. So I traced it up and boom…. done. Super easy. And I really like it! and will no doubt use the same pattern again. 🙂
The only variation I made was to leave off the eponymous epaulettes, haha. Maybe next time…
Finishing nitty gritty: 1) I left off the facings, and just overlocked the raw edge then stitched down a simple seam allowance inside the neckline. Simple, neat, and not bulky at all. 
2) Pleather sleeve edges were clean cut using my rotary cutter and left raw. 
3) Lower hemline; turned under twice in a deep hem and hand stitched;
So that’s it! Simple easy, unexciting, but then again the most useful things often are. Leftovers and scraps, so basically “free”… yay! I really like the sleeves, and hopefully they do add just some little bit of je nais se quois… and don’t just look like a random add-on because, you know; not enough fabric.
Details:
Top; top 4, the epaulette tee, from She Has a Mannish Style by Yuko Takada. The English translation re-named this book She Wears the Pants, and I’ve previously ranted here on my blog about what a bad, bad, or at least awfully misleading title this is; since the book contains very few patterns for any actual pants. grrr
Skirt; the Jade skirt by Paprika Patterns, same purple knit, details here
Bodysuit (under) the Nettie by Closet Case patterns, black stretch, details here
Gloves; hand knitted by me using a 60’s pattern, charcoal merino, details here
Tights; my own design, black stretch, details here and my tutorial for making your own custom-fit tights pattern is here
Boots; made by me, details here
great outfit, I love that wine color in wintertime. And hurrah! for using up fabric remainders to make a clever top.
What a wonderful way to use the leftovers! Love the outfit.
I love the leather contrast! Very lovely outfit.
I really love this outfit–I keep coming back to your blog looking at it! ha ha I am going to have to get me the skirt pattern. Back when you first made it, I bookmarked it so I could go back to it. Now with winter coming in my part of the world, I will start planning for it!
Thank you so much Shirley! xx… I’ve made the skirt pattern twice, so yes, I like it a lot too! 🙂
Great top and even better that it basically was free! The plaether wirks great with this soft looking fabric abd I adore this color!
Very nice top and it works well with your skirt. Great use of left over fabrics.
Lovely top! I like the idea of using up leftover fabric too – without anyone realising…
Love the mix of textures in this outfit.
What a chic ensemble! Of course I love this colour and the texture of this gorgeous knit fabric is just right for this boxy top. I have never heard anybody using scraps of shoe making leftovers for making some sleeves! I admire your creativity which appears in such details 🙂
Love how you mix the materials to make such a beautiful ensemble. Gorgeous!
Love those sleeves, great fabric mix and ingenious use of leftovers!
This is a wonderful outfit – I adore the sleeves.
I love your version! And no, the sleeves do not look like an add-on at all…. they are perfect. And how cool you ride a ferry to town. 🙂
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