31.7.11

Sunday morning sewing

Saturday is clean-the-house day around here.  Often, I just shut the sewing room door and ignore it.  This week, I left it open.  Which meant I could wake up on Sunday morning with clear floors, a clear conscience and time to do those oft neglected non-sewing activities.  But the lure of the clear sewing room was too strong.  It would be easy to duck in there and whip up a quick project before my kids had the pancakes on the table.

When I looked up the link for the Eileen Fisher site in my last post, I stopped for a look around.  This project is not a copy of one of her garments, but it was inspired by the feel of her collections.  I started with an OOP Vogue pattern (from 2004) for a raglan sleeved shirt with a wide neckline.

 
My fabric was a cotton sweater knit that I ordered online.  Initially I was disappointed, because it was heavier than I expected and it doesn't have great recovery, but I wore it all yesterday and it was comfy.

 
I cut the back and sleeves as per the pattern.  For the front, I wanted to create a bit of a cowl, but I just wanted to add the extra fabric in the top half, so I first cut the bottom half as per normal (that is not bad cutting...that is me grading out to a Sz 14).

Then I pivoted the pattern to create extra room for the cowl.

I didn't want a very deep cowl.  I also hadn't decided whether to sew the cowl as normal, or have it hang to the outside, or gather up the sides a bit etc.  It was all a bit experimental.


I then sewed the top, except for where the upper part of the front attaches to the seams, so that I could play around with it a bit and decide what I wanted.

I used a blind hem on the bottom and sleeves.  The back and side neckline was finished with woven bias tape, so that the top would not stretch off my shoulders.


Goes nicely with my pajamas and  the remnants of the previous nights' eyeliner, doesn't it.  Don't worry, I'll show you the dress that went with the eyeliner in the next post.

9 comments:

Bernice said...

LOVE the colour! Looks like a lovely winter top and much more stylish with the cowl-like neckline. Bet you wish you'd whipped it up a few weeks ago.

Gail said...

Love the colour and how the neckline drapes, even if it wasn't the intention of the pattern.

Sew-4-Fun said...

Lovely! It looks so good with your PJ's too. Pity you can't wear them outside the house. :)

Mae said...

I love your top

Carolyn said...

I think it's gorgeous! Great colour, and I really like the draped front.
wrt your comment, I bought the iDye at Spotlight. I got one of their ubiquitous vouchers recently so I bought a little stash of dyes

Mary Nanna said...

Very nice colour and the drape of the top is great - it's the comfortable things we reach for time and time again - the top will earn its place in your cupboards...

Joy said...

Drafting the pattern straight onto the fabric, eek! Brave woman. But apparently it worked fine, because the top is lovely. I never tire of cowl necks.

Jenny said...

So pretty! I love simple knit garments. Thanks for showing how you made the cowl, too.

SEWN said...

The drape is just perfect. I love your new top.