October 4, 2014

That's the POINT...

It may be October, but this past week felt much more like summer than autumn. E and I even had lunch outside today...
Nevertheless, the sewing I've done this week has been autumn-y: Long sleeves!

May I present my new top?

It's "Sharp and Snappy D" from Pattern Magic 3 Stretch Fabrics.
I always thought it would be one of the more wearable designs in the book, even though I haven't seen many versions of it on other blogs.
As usual, I used my own sloper-for-jersey instead of the pattern which comes with the book. And I chose a length which I find comfortable and practical. For the rest, I basically just drafted the top according to the instructions. The was one thing I didn't agree with: The use of the same pieces for front and back. The book has you use the same armscyes and necklines on all pieces. I adjusted the armscye on the back bodice, kept the sleeve the same after considering and measuring it and kept the back neckline a bit higher than the front. After trying the top on, I cut the front neckline a bit lower yet. Oh, and then I finished the neckline with a band rather than turning it in. My fabric has no vertical stretch, so some parts of the neckline wouldn't have liked that treatment.

I made this top rather quickly because I wanted to test the fabric. I had found it on the market for only 1 euro a meter and bought 5 meters because, hey, it's black cotton jersey. However, I had had some bad experience earlier this year with cotton-jersey-from-super-sale. I bought both an off-white and an orange/red variety which turned out to have no recovery at all. So, I thought I would test this fabric straight away, by making something from it and buy more if I liked the way it behaved (because you can never have too much good quality, cheap, black cotton jersey...).

I am quite happy with the fabric. It has some bulk to it and no vertical stretch so I wouldn't be suitable for every type of project (twist designs not recommended) but it would serve really well for a lot of others. It works really well for this top because it has enough body to make those points stand out (unfortunately, E took these detail pictures with the black bean bag behind me. Still, I hope you can see the sleeve shape like this). 
However, more people must think like me because on the next market day, they were all out of this fabric... Oh well, I still have about 3.5 meters left...

I like the top. It's a bit crazy but not too much so for me. And I did actually need some nice long sleeve tops for when the weather cools down...

6 comments:

  1. This is really fun and great! I love the pointy shoulders.

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  2. Wow, that is pretty snappy! What a fun project.

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  3. Really like the silhouette the sleeves and waist have created, looks great on you?

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  4. Very, very cool!!

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  5. Love this! You've reminded me how much I loved this in the book. So architectural and modern, yet casual, too. Nice work!

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