2016 sewing retrospective - woven tops

In doing these sewing retrospective posts as well as being surprised by how much I managed to sew last year I also noticed just how little sewing from years past is visible in my wardrobe. But those garments that are still in my wardrobe have been repeated or will be repeated in 2017.

So on to the woven tops...

Swirl top by Starfish

This top is a modification to the Starfish Swirler dress from the book Home Sewn by the New Zealand Fashion Museum. Garments from the Home Sewn exhibition (not the book) can be seen here. I did make the dress which had a short life in my wardrobe as it really wasn't my style.

For the first version of the top, the pattern was shortened a uniform amount which resulted in quite short side seams which can be problematic if you raise your arms too high or if it's windy. The neck is also quite wide so it is hard to keep on your shoulders. It was made in a silk chiffon, with cuffs and neck binding in navy silk left over from the Maris top.  All fabrics were from The Fabric Store. Whilst still in my wardrobe it has only been worn in public once.

Having learnt from my mistakes I lengthened the side seams and reduced the size of the head opening.  The sleeve width was reduced and the sleeves lengthened. This version is much loved. The fabric is a Liberty silk chiffon in the meandering chrysanthemum print from The Fabric Store.

Silhouette Patterns #400 Traditional Blouse

Silhouette Patterns are fabulous they helped the penny drop with regards to ease and they come with cup sizing so no FBA. Now I can take any pattern look at the finished garment measurements and decide how much ease I want and therefore the pattern size to start with. Since I learnt this lesson after 30 years of sewing I have a much better finished garment fit success rate - it still doesn't overcome my innate ability to choose patterns that don't suit me. Need better 3D visualisation skills.

For these garments I lowered the neckline and made a forward should adjustment. I used the view without the button placket but retained the shirt tail which looks great. The blue is a cotton shirting fabric from The Fabric Store with silk embroidery thread for the running stitch and felt flowers in colours to go with a floral pair of RTW pants. The green is a Japanese double gauze from Marcy Tilton purchased in 2014.

Butterick Tunic B6172 View B

All of these have an FBA and forward shoulder adjustment.

The green roses are a Liberty Tana Lawn (rainbow rose colourway C) purchased from Liberty of London a few years ago. The red is a linen from The Fabric Store.

This MacCulloch and Wallis  London border print has already featured in an earlier blog post with the headless selfie. I took some more pictures so you could see a 360° view to show the mix of fabrics.  Having only bought one metre print matching was impossible - I just focused on matching the fence!

  

Style Arc Maris Top

Love both of these tops made in a size 10 with no pattern alterations. The red/blue square version uses a Milly silk (the back is on the bias) from Elliot Berman Textiles with the contrasting navy silk from The Fabric Store. The orange is a silk linen blend from The Fabric Store.

Sewing Workshop Bristol Tunic

The Bristol top was lengthened as I wanted a tunic to wear over leggings. I made a forward shoulder adjustment but didn't do an FBA. It has only been worn once with skinny pants and the jury is still out as to whether it will have a long term future. The print is an Italian viscose/rayon challis panel from Marcy Tilton paired with a rayon knit from Silhouette Patterns. If it lives it will be because I love the print or I finished the leggings and the two work better together than the top did with skinny pants.