17.6.14

Birds

I made this top using Patrones No. 330 (17 Blusa el corte ingles.) and a Milly chiffon from Gorgeous Fabrics.  I rarely sew with chiffon, but I thought that these birds were pretty groovy.  It turns out that the chiffon is not holding up terribly well for my wash 'n wear lifestyle, so I am posting this before the the pulls and tears become obvious (I made it over Christmas).



The fabric is navy, grey and white.  None of these colours suit me, so I made the bottom band in a coloured fabric to help co-ordinate it with my wardrobe.  This has turned out quite practical, as I have worn it with black trousers, mustard trousers and a turquoise skirt.

A made a few modifications to the pattern
- I left off the buttons on the band
- I left off the back neck opening
- I added the knit cuffs
- I took in the sleeves (I was doing a forward shoulder alteration and then thought I would just narrow the front sleeves by the amount I moved the shoulder forward - turns out this was a little too much narrowing of the sleeves are they are too tight now).
- I wasn't sure what to do with the back band - the technical drawing showed that it was elasticated, so I added a casing and inserted elastic. (Since then, I have seen this made up over at Aventuras de costuras and now I know I should have shirred the back waist band).

The elasticised back band and chiffon combine to make the birds look like they are floating, or flying, around.  Quite groovy in real life.

7 comments:

Raquel from J.C. said...

I really like your top! You look great with that color combination, the yellow adds a pop of color. I hate sewing chiffon, it does whatever it likes and my stitches are all crooked.

Summer Flies said...

It intrigues me why you think the colours don't suit you? I think it is lovely and a stroke of genius to put the pop of colour on the front band. I really like it and I like the necklace too... did you make that as well?

Audrey said...

I really like this top too. Neat fabric to start with, but the striped and multi color bands really make it interesting and unique.

AllisonC said...

Great top and I think the idea of the striped bands is brilliant.

Megan O said...

That looks like a lovely pattern and your version looks fantastic. I like the stripy cuffs with the bird print. Good to know about the shirring too to add to your Spanish sewing terms! I enjoyed the link the the Spanish blog too, it's hard to find Patrones patterns made up anywhere on the internet.

Gail said...

I love this top. I have quite a few sheers in stash so should consider making something similar.

Sue said...

Top love - what a shame it is not lasting! The yellow sets it off perfectly.