Seems a little presumptuous to title this post "A Week of Finishes" when, hey, it's Tuesday. But, as I pointed out to someone who suggested that I should start a podcast, there are only 24 hours in the day. So, despite being a day late(but not a dollar short, though that little quip has nothing to do with my point), I do have a series of finishes to show off here this week.
Today's is this ombre dyed top, which I tried, I really tried to take pictures of myself wearing.
Lack of selfie success aside, I love, love , love this top.
The inspiration came from the curtains in my sewing studio. I made them and hung them, so I'm not quite sure why it took so long for me to really "notice" them, but, the other day I was looking at them and thinking they would make great fabric for clothing. The curtains are also ombre dyed in shades of pale blue and indigo and it took a fair amount of self control to stop myself from having a Scarlett O'Hara moment and ripping them down to sew with.
I reminded myself that I had a dye studio in my garage and there had plenty of un-dyed fabric eagerly waiting transformation.
I made this instead:
The base fabric is a super soft cotton lawn and it's perfect for crafting all manner of clothing.
The pattern for the top came from Lotta Jansdotter's newest book, Everyday Style: Key Pieces to Sew+ Accessories, Styling, and Inspiration.
Sidenote: I love this book. It delivers exactly what the title advertises. I've made 3 garments from the book including the top pictured and, though I'm often reluctant to craft what I would term Japanese-inspired clothes because they often seem baggy and intended to hide rather than flatter, I find her designs to be casual and fun and just a bit more fitted. That and her book is filled with inspirational images of the clothes as modeled by her friends and family and in inspiring, but approachable locales.
I chose the Esme Top as the pattern for my hand dyed cotton and knew I would cut the fabric so the top ran darker to lighter from bottom to top. I also selected the cap-sleeve option as, (A) This is Texas and it's July and (B) I only need to trace and cut 2 pattern pieces. As with most facings, I didn't create the traditional facing called for in the instructions, but used bias binding, which I always make myself (personally cannot think of anything less worth spending money on than store-bought bias binding)
I'm not the type to make spreadsheets documenting this type of information, though I live with someone who is, but I can say with some certainty that this is the fastest pattern I've ever sewn.
Next up for me in from this book?
I'm patterning more cotton lawn yardage (not as we speak because I'm busy typing) in my signature wax-resist technique to create an Esme tunic. I think I'll modify that a bit including adding belt loops and a thin matching tie as well a slit opening around the neckline.
But that won't be the next finish featured here. You'll have to check back to see what is.