Laundry Day Tee in Houndstooth

This is my third project I've tried from the Indie company Love Notions. My first was the Margot Peplum Top, which I really liked, and the Harmony Blouse was my second, though that one wasn't as much of a success for me.

 This top, the Laundry Day Tee, is a free pattern if you join their Facebook page. I liked the swing silhouette and all the many variations in this pattern, so downloaded it and have finally given it a go.

I love it! The shape is really great, and the options are inspiring. It comes in sizes XS - 5X, and has a variety of sleeve & neckline finishes.

I used a houndstooth knit that I have in my "20 for 2020" plans -- it is a lower stretch fabric so my version does fit closely around the torso, but the swing line is sharper than it would be in a drapier fabric. I love the effect.

I finished the neckline using the cowl option -- and look at this cowl!

 It's huge and certainly keeps your neck warm. It falls in really nice folds due to its volume.

At first I wasn't sure that I could manage this option, as I had limited fabric. But with some creative cutting, and a seamline along the orginal foldline of the cowl, I was able to squeeze it onto my length of fabric (probably just over 1.5 m) and thus have very, very little scrap fabric left over.

It's a perfect match for this fabric, and as a free pattern I was pleased to find that it is well made and goes together smoothly. The process is very quick once you've got your size picked -- it is two pieces, a sleeve that's sewn on flat, and your neckline finish of choice. Love Notions uses layered, no trim pdfs as well, which makes the putting together part a lot easier.

I am thinking about perhaps shortening it by another inch and bringing in the flare a tiny bit. All coming from my fabric choice. But otherwise I really like this comfortable and fun make. I do think I'll likely make a few more, at least one probably in dress length too!
 

Another quite delightful part of this project is the fact that I took these photos of my new top at my library, in front of a community art exhibit sharing my own photos of Kyiv from a visit I took in 2008. It's like a hall of mirrors...

Harmonious Upcycling

This week I followed up my recent pattern tracing marathon with a bit of pattern cutting! I cut out three tops, and spent this week working on this one, the Harmony Blouse from Love Notions. 

This was a particularly thrifty sew; I am on the Love Notions fb page and watch for her weekly sales. A few weeks ago this blouse was on sale for $5, and since I've made & loved the Love Notions Margot Peplum top, I thought I'd give this one a go as well.

It's also a thrifty make because I used a thrift store April Cornell dress as my source material. I picked up this large and outdated style of dress over a year ago just because the fabric was so beautiful, and have been trying to find the perfect pattern for it. This top was just the right shape to take advantage of the dress fabric.

I started by cutting the skirt off just under the funny wiggly waistline, then cut the seams out so I had two rather trapezoidal chunks of fabric. I cut front and back from these pieces. Then I used the bodice pieces to cut the cap sleeve option. I could have used the short sleeve option (slightly longer) but there were double darts in the bodice, front and back, that I would have had in the sleeve hems so opted for the shorter length to make it easier.

I was even able to reuse the button back closure from the original dress as my new button back closure. I just picked out the stitches for the loop and button, and reattached them to my new top! I also used a 50¢ vintage packet of cream coloured nylon bias tape to finish the neckline. It's very lightweight and slightly silky, and worked perfectly.

Pattern alterations:

As for the pattern itself, I love it. It fits beautifully. I fall between the Med & Large on these patterns, so I traced it off between those lines at the neck to just below the bust where I graded out the large pattern line. I also traced a halfway line between M/L for the sleeves. It fits just right.

A touch windy here, thus the wrinkly bits - it does fall nicely in back usually!

Next time I'll take a touch out horizontally at the level of the back slit; I always seem to get a little bubble of excess on this style of top right at the upper back, which I'd forgotten from the last time I made something similar. And I'll probably make the back swoop a little less prominent; hi-lo isn't my favourite look and I didn't realize it would be quite so different -- perhaps I made a little boo boo while tracing, or it's just my shape. In any case, I will retrace the back bottom to be a much shallower curve next time around.

I really enjoyed the challenge of making this and it's been a comfy wear so far today! I recommend getting on to the mailing lists and/or FB pages of designers you like and waiting for sales or promotions, if you need to save money while sewing. It's a way to stretch the sewing budget. I also check thrift stores for fabric and reusable clothing often, and note when thrift stores are having sales or if there is a special senior's discount day we can take advantage of, or other options like that. It keeps me sewing and keeps my budget in line.

Margot Peplum top in purple polka dots

I tried out a new-to-me indie pattern company this month! For some reason, I recently got it into my head that I wanted to make a peplum knit shirt, and when looking around I found this design by Love Notions, a company I hadn't really paid much attention to before, thinking that it was a lot of children's patterns. I was wrong -- I found this lovely Margot Peplum top, at a time that there was a sale on. So I bought it, traced it off, and finally got around to making it this month.

I used a thrifted poly knit which is kind of heavy and less stretchy than is optimal. But I thought for a first try of this pattern, it would be sufficient, and besides, I loved the polka dot print.

There are a few options to combine in this pattern - this time, I chose to make the solid bodice, with elbow sleeves and the swing skirt. It all fit together beautifully. I fall smack in the middle of M & L in the sizing so cut about midway between those sizes. I used a narrow zigzag stitch on most of the construction and it seems to have done the trick -- this knit is not going to fray or ravel, or probably ever self-destruct in a million years.

I did extend the length of the peplum by an inch or so, as I like a bit more of a tunic-y length to my loose tops. And I finished the neckline with a bias facing. I really like the way it has turned out. I think this might be another reliable pattern that I will end up making more than once -- I'm even thinking of extending the peplum and making this into a dress, as I like the bodice fit a lot. Perhaps I'll even try the princess seam version sometime!

The only thing to note is the the peplum attaches to the bodice essentially at an empire line, so on a windy day like the one on which I took my photos, attention must be paid to gusts! At least it keeps you cool ;)

This pattern was a winner for me, and I look forward to trying another of Love Notions' designs. I've already downloaded her Laundry Tee, let's see how long it takes me to get around to making that one...