SO! On my recent trip to Melbourne with Mum, Cassie and Tiffany; I picked up my autumn/winter wardrobe! Obviously, it was all in 2D form, oh except for a pair of Italian leather boots, whoops! well I am allowing myself to buy shoes every once in a while now… 🙂
I absolutely freakin’ LOVE fabric shopping in Melbourne! so much choice! so many beautiful fabrics, everything of gorgeous quality; and it’s SOOOO difficult to narrow it down to what you can actually fit in your suitcase. I joyfully made a zillion plans, followed by a realistic estimate of my time and what I want vs what I actually need, and ended up buying the small pile pictured below. Plus a coupla pieces of Liberty jersey for pretty colourful underthings… not pictured because their colours didn’t “go” with this autumnally photogenic colour palette here, hehe.
the spoils from Melbourne; aka, my autumn 2017 collection…
First up; this top! the third fabric from the top…
Split high-low hems are everywhere this season, and the more I saw the more I WANTED! Fortunately, this is an ultra easy thing to rustle up yourself using whatever basic pattern you already have lying around, it’s only a matter of working out your proportions…
Fabric; a heavy apricot crepe, from the Fabric Store in Melbourne. It’s thick, quite heavy and sponge-y in texture, slightly stretchy, and actually quite warm.
Pattern; modified version of the Epaulette cut and sewn top, pattern No.4 in the Japanese pattern book “she has a mannish style”, also known as “she wears the pants” by Yuko Takada, This is fairly unexciting, but a terrifically useful basic, go-to, loose, boxy top pattern; I’ve made it twice before, for myself here and once here for Cassie.
I cut the neckline and all pieces as is, and diddled about with the lengths to get the look I wanted… as follows:
side seams; 16.5cm, the remainder left open as a split
sleeve length; 37cm from apex of sleeve cap to lower edge, and with an extra 5cm for a deep hem
Front length @ side seam; 28.5cm
Back length @ side seams; 37.5cm
both front and back I allowed an extra 6cm for a nice deep hem.
For the split hem, I laid the hem allowance outside, right sides together and sewed up the side edge, then turned the corner out and invisibly slip-stitched along the overlocked edge inside, for a clean neat finished appearance on the outside.
Neckline; I cut the facings from a thin, woven raw silk for minimal bulk, the self fabric would have been way too thick for this! Interestingly, this fabric was also originally from the Fabric Store in Melbourne, bought a few years ago.
And, done! I really really REALLY love this, and can see myself wearing it a lot, and with a lot of different outfits. Actually, I originally envisioned it as a kind of cropped oversized tunic to wear layered with a long-line, slim-fitting, buttoned up white shirt with the shirttails hanging out the bottom, over tapered capri pants. However: two things; a) it’s too hot for an ensemble like that just yet, which is actually a very good thing because b) I am currently bereft of a long-line, slim-fitting buttoned up white shirt! so maybe I’d better get cracking and make one of those too?!
For now, I really like how it looks nice with this equally boxy, tailored skirt and my new clogs, or alternatively with my boyfriend jeans as below.
Details:
Top, adapted from the epaulette cut and sewn top No. 4, from “she has a mannish style” by Yuko Takada, heavy apricot crepe
Skirt; Burda 10/2010; 136 the Karl Lagerfeld skirt, black suiting fabric, details and my review of this pattern here
Shoes; made by me, and my own design, details here
and below: worn with my Morgan boyfriend jeans, charcoal denim, details here
location: Eagle Bay, Western Australia
It’s such a lovely top, love the split hem. I really must make some plain fabric tops, they look fab with everything.
thanks Lynsey! I worry about my plain fabric tops being a bit boring, but the truth is that I reach for them a lot more than any of my patterned ones, and yes, they do go better with other pieces too 🙂
I think I saw this fabric in Sydney too for the record! Love the texture, great adaptation and I imagine just a hint of skin when the breeze catches it which is lovely for us girlies who feel the heat! And self restraint noted in your fabric haul photo!!
thanks Lesley! I’ve heard it’s in the Los Angeles store too. I do feel rather annoyingly virtuous about my modest pile of fabrics, though I secretly wish I could have bought WAY more! so much to choose from, so much temptation 🙂
I truly like your top! I have this book and glad I came across your post. I need to pull it out and try this.
Nice fall fabric purchases!
thanks Linda!
What a gorgeous “basic”. You’ll certainly find many, many ways to incorporate this lovely top into outfits throughout the season. Now I can’t wait to see what you make from all those other wonderful fabrics!
thank you Irene!
Really lovely…plans and all!!! Looking forward to the rest of your new wardrobe
thank you Les! 🙂
Thank you for that little tutorial on how you finished that split hem. I wouldn’t have thought to do that but I really like it especially for a warm over-top like this one – it’s make it so stylish 🙂 Love your boyfriend jeans too Caroline – they are too cool for words 🙂
thank you so much Kathleen! I LOVE my boyfriend jeans! and am actually thinking I want to make a second pair for myself 🙂
I love this chic clean top! It looks so modern and it is a fabulous pairing as well to the jeans as to the Karl Lagerfeld skirt. Thank you for the detailed informations about the proportions!
thank you so much SaSa! xx
OMG your work is so good! This includes styling, working with patterns with instructions in someone else’s language (but maybe you do know Japanese & I’m making unwarranted assumptions)…have you ever written about how you came to this level of interest and accomplishment? I would enjoy that part of the story. Thanks for reading this comment.
thank you so much SanMarie! No, I can’t read Japanese, but the illustrations in this book, and in fact, in most Japanese sewing books are so good the intermediate seamster could easily follow them. and thank you for that kind compliment… I suppose this whole blog covers that story! although I’ve been sewing for myself since I was about 13 actually 🙂
Beautiful top! I have been following your blog for a few years now and really admire your sewing skills and your style! How do you stay so slim?
thank you so much, Heather! 🙂
Great top and thank you for the measurements. I can see this top getting a lot of wear and expect to see it layered as the weather gets colder.
thanks Sharon!
Such a gorgeous top. It looks like it will be in heavy rotation in your wardrobe. Great fabric finds. I look forward to seeing what you make up with them.
thank you Tomasa!
This looks sooo incredibly neat! I think the color and cut look lovely on you and the fabric photo got me real excited for your future blog posts 🙂
I love that high low hem. It looks very different to the previous versions. I love using old patterns in new ways.
Is the facing cut on the bias with a raw edge finish? Looks gorgeous. And I love the texture of the fabric. Mmmmm, sponge-y …
thanks! no, the facing is cut on-grain, in the normal way 🙂
This is so beautifully made. I love your fabric choice.
Love it with jeans, such clean lines. Jo x
What a lovely, modern top! Love the modifications you made and especially like the last photo at the beach where your sweet top blends in with the sunset (sunrise?!) hues of colors! xx
I love the split side seams and the variation in the length. I tried on a knee length version of a very similar tunic recently.
Pingback: bunny top - Handmade by Carolyn