Cute Top for a Good Girl

I was going to finish off V1158 but there was another distraction - the crazy (hot-cold-hot) weather over this past week.

On about Monday at my son's school the temperature reached 34C - the teacher said if it hit 35C the class could have icy poles from the canteen. My daughter was at her new nearby, mostly outdoors kindy that day, as opposed to her farther away, totally indoors and air-conditioned kindy, and she got rather hot and sweaty.  I decided she might need more summery dresses / tops to suit the heat and sun. 


























The fabric was one of the pieces I got at Tessuti's sale some time back - I just love it! I wish I could have gotten more of it (if anyone has some, can I barter with you?) It's a striped cotton in colours that remind me of the 70s, with lots of embroidery over the stripes. My daughter wanted it made into a dress but that was never going to be possible.

This top, made from pattern A in the Japanese book "Cute Clothes for Good Girls" is breezy enough for the heat and covers little shoulders. I received two criticisms initially: 1) it's not fair that the other hand will get cold, and 2) tops should have a straight shape (ie not used to the flare). But once on it stayed on all day, and it seems to have been very comfortable for a muggy Sydney day.

Sewing details: I made this pattern in a size 110 cm height but used the widths from the 120cm height pattern pieces, which looks to have been unnecessary. I made it as long as could with the remnant fabric I had, but it should normally be about knee length. I replaced the pattern's back buttons with a bright blue zip (quicker!) and free-styled the pocket somewhat, adding a little elastic to the top. As I've made this before in smaller sizes I didn't even look at the instructions - so I'm not sure if my bright orange bias bound neckline and sleeves were what was intended - I added the sleeve cap things after I'd sewn in the bias binding, so you get a peek of orange between shoulder and sleeve cap on the sides, a bit like having piping in there! Finally the hemline is a rolled hem as I wanted to lose as little length as possible.

 

Hey, she pushed in!

Yes it's true, V1129 and M5907 were already there, and V1250 simply pushed in last night - and I let her. 



But she's so easy-going and straightforward... and such a flatterer!  I guess that's why she's so popular.  She didn't even seem to mind being cropped off at the waist - said something about her neckline being her best feature anyway???

I'm really enjoying V1250's company; she's definitely staying on the sewing table for a while. I guess I'll have to spend some time with V1129 and M5907 soon though...  M5907 had already stopped cooperating because I was taking too long; I'd hate for V1129 to act out like that too.

















Details:
Pattern: Close-fitting knit DKNY dress with a distinctive cowl neckline and front skirt pieces wrapping around to back. Due to fabric constraints I cut the back piece + 2 inches extra length, and matched the front length to this. On trying the pinned together version I decided I needed more length so added rectangular bands to front and back. Otherwise I followed the instructions religiously - they are pretty clear.

Fabric used: merino wool jersey remnant - there was just 1m, but it was also just $3!

Time to make: cutting took less than 1/2 hour on Thursday evening and then all the sewing took just a few hours on Friday evening, even though I always sew at the slow speed setting.

Conclusion: A big tick!

PS If you're in the Wynyard/ Surry Hills/ Chatswood areas of Sydney in the next few hours, Tessuti shops are having a remnant / end of roll sale that ends today. I stumbled across it yesterday on the way home from work and will post later on my stash-creating finds - but there are some really good quality fabrics in there (Lisa Ho remnants I think), and all at $10 or less (including roll ends).

PPS and my head is all better now, thanks.