Missoni Many Ways

Have you met Passiona over at Le Coutureve?   She makes some pretty groovy stuff, and not even just for herself.  One of my favourite projects of hers was the outfit she made for her Nanna.  One of my daydreams has been to sew something fabulous for someone that the fashion world may have overlooked...she didn't just dream it, she got on and did it.  Most inspirational. 

Well, Passiona had a super-generous give-away and I ended up with a piece of Missoni.  Gorgeous fabric, but being a gift, I felt a little pressure to do something worthwhile with the fabric.  This pressure meant that it took me a long time to decide what to make.

My first thought, as with almost any knit print, was to make a boxy sort of boat neck top.

Then I remembered some cute looking summery missoni tank styles I had seen. 

However, I couldn't walk away from the idea of a V-neck; it would be pretty groovy with all those zig-zags.

One of my most favourite Missoni garments is the dress captured by the sartorialist.  I could make a dress, albeit a very short one.  Could be cute, poolside, over a bikini.

Passiona made a dress  I could channel her grown-up look with a simple skirt.

By then, it became a challenge too see how many looks I could create from one garment.  A simple shrug turned out to be very useful when I headed south for the silly season.

A plain scarf. (An aside: my white pants, that I love, keep shrinking, every wash.  Now they are too small and too short.  Grrrrrr.  I have worn them for this photo shoot, as I have not had the chance to sew a replacement.)

More of a jabot.

I was pretty stoked the day I realised that I could also wear it as pants.  Not that I am likely to, but I could, if I had some sort of hippie event to attend.

A short cardigan is a possibility.

A poncho perhaps?  The zig-zags go down on this one, for a little variety.

A one shoulder top, with or without a strap.

That was all that I remembered to photograph today, but I found some earlier photos that I took when I was making it, so I could remember some possibilities.  Top with folded neckline.

A cowly sort of scarf.

A head scarf.

A vest.

An overskirt.

So how is all this possible in a single garment?  Two rectangles.  I cut the fabric into two equal pieces.

Across the top I sewed interfaced bias strips and hand stitched large snaps to the strips.

Along the sides I attached hand-made snap tape.  The top strips and the snap tape were sewn down by hand, so as not to create a line on the other side of the garment.  It was a tad tricky working out where to put the male and female snaps, for the best looking garments.

The snap tape was made using this press (although yesterday I saw that Lincraft sells snap tape in white and black).

The straps were quilted layers of linen, with hand sewn snaps at the ends.

I have kept one strap long.  It sits inside the garment when worn as a dress.  I have kept it long as I have not given up the idea of creating new looks with a long strap.

These outfits have all been snapped symmetrically.  Imagine the possibilities when I start mis-matching snaps!

 As you can see, I've had a lot of fun with this project.  Whilst none of the looks may be as perfect as a single garment may have been, they are mostly very wearable.  I wore this garment at least 4 different ways during my Christmas down south...as a shrug, a skirt, the cowl necked tank and the V-neck top (my favourite look).