Silver Stripes

The Sewcialists February theme is stripes! I pulled this silk fabric from my hoard stash collection and paired it with the Itch to Stitch Zamora blouse. This make has been on my to do list for a long time; I was glad for the Sewcialists' inspiration to get it done.

The silk fabric came from the Minneapolis Textile Center Garage Sale. It's a striped opaque fabric (a little grayer than it looks in these pictures) with bunches of blossoms all over. The fabric was pretty slippery, so I sprayed it with a ton of starch before cutting (using a rotary cutter, as usual for me). It mostly behaved.

The only alterations I made were to lengthen the pattern by 1", add 1" to each shoulder (for a broad shoulder adjustment, which I have realized that I need on everything in my closet), and left out the front darts on the final version. They made the front hang a bit funny, but I think it was more due to the fabric than the darts--they looked a fine on the muslin that I made. The different strips have different weights, which makes the fabric hang in a ripple, as you can see at the back hem below.

I used French seams throughout. The bow and the cuffs were finished by hand. I like the pattern, especially the front tucks, but it will probably be a while before I make it again. It's a very distinctive look, and I have a lot of other shirt patterns I want to try!

In these photos I'm wearing the shirt with my 2018 Refashioners skirt (refashioned from gray pinstripe suit pants) to keep the stripe theme going! I was able to fix the lining issue on the skirt so that it hangs nicely now in the back. I love the deep deep pockets!

I've just finished another top that I'm excited to post about. My sewing goal for March is to sew my husband a pair of jeans! We'll see how it goes.

2018 Match Your Shoes

I sewed some clothes to match some shoes! This was for my first PatternReview contest. The shoes are Dansko clogs in a yellow crocodile texture with a floral print. I got them on Ebay, my favorite source for unique, affordable clogs! The fabric is from Papua New Guinea--a lap lap that I got when I was there in 2009. A lap lap is a 2 yard x 44 inch length of cloth that is used for many purposes, but most traditional as a wrap skirt by both women, and, especially on the islands, by men. I can't believe I was able to squeeze a skirt and a shirt out of it! There was some creative cutting, and most pattern matching was out the window.

The skirt

For the skirt, I used the waistband from the Colette Ginger skirt pattern, since I knew that fit me well. The pleated skirt was self-draped. I make pockets and lined the waistband using fabric from an old maternity shirt. The lapped zipper was my first! The zipper and the rayon lining were rescued from a cheap skirt bought at Savers.

Pockets!

The back

The shirt is from a vintage pattern, McCall's 4992, heavily modified. Contrary to the fashion illustration, there was a large amount of ease in the size I chose based on my measurements. In addition to sizing down significantly for a closer fit, I shortened the bodice and the sleeve and removed the gathers from the back to save on fabric. The collar shape was altered to be less 1976. The facings, under collar, and yoke lining are but from the same old maternity shirt (pieced in places!). I wanted to use bias binding on the sleeve hems, but ran out of both fabrics, so ended up serging these. I may go back and use a matching bias binding if I can find one--I don't like the way the serged edge peaks out.

Outside finishes

Inside finishes

Overall, I'm very pleased with how this turned out. So is Loki the cat: