Monday 21 November 2016

The four tops

Today's post bundles together four tops, so I couldn't resist the musical reference to the Motown greats!

Up first is a top from this Japanese sewing book, which I wanted to try as I was curious about the construction of the sleeves and the insert below them. It's a really nice, simple style with buttons down the back (I used snaps instead). The fabric is a light cotton from my stash with a seersucker-like wave to it. In the bottom set of photos you can see the side view of the sleeve and also the side slits - a lovely detail, I think.



Next up is a peplum top from the magazine Cotton Friend: Kids. This cute little number features an elasticised back with crossover straps. I used a linen-lookalike cotton from Spotlight. The pattern was really confusing and I still can't work out why I ended up with an extra (unused) pattern piece - most perplexing! In the end I just looked at the photos and figured it out from there.



This Oliver + S school bus t-shirt sat around my sewing space for some months due to indecision about which colour neckband to use. Finally guilt got the better of me and I just grabbed some grey ribbing and finished it. I made the stupid mistake of not shortening the neckband enough and consequently the fit around the neck isn't great. I should really re-do it - but will I ever get around to it, I wonder? The fabric is a knit from Spotlight.



Lastly, I couldn't resist this cute strawberry print - so summery! I really wish I could find something similar in a swimwear fabric. The pattern is the girl's singlet from Small Dreamfactory - a lovely FREE pattern that goes from 9 months to size 14. As I did with the one I made last summer, I crossed the straps at the back and added a little width to the front and gathered it.



But wait - that's not all! I put a photo of these up on Instagram on the weekend, but here they are in more detail: my two fruit bags from Cotton Friend: Kids. The pineapple is kind of a backpack with drawstrings; the strawberry is a little drawstring pouch. They were fun to sew and R pounced on them as soon as they were done, destroying my plan to give one away as a gift. I guess I might have to sew some more, then...




And that's all from me for today, except for this one last pic: R was adamant that there had to be a photo of her eating the strawberry, so here it is!

6 comments:

  1. A great collection of tops and reviews of the patterns. going to try and remember that singlet for next summer. love the fruity bags too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Louise. Yes the singlet is a good one. I love a good free pattern, especially one that comes in such a wide range of sizes!

      Delete
  2. R is set for summer! Such wonderful tops! I too wonder what's with the spare piece haha

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Jenya! Yeah it's bizarre. It was a great big piece, too - most confusing :)

      Delete
  3. Love all of these Marisa, but especially that first one. My daughter had a knit ready to wear t-shirt with a similar shoulder frill / underarm gusset thing and I always wanted to recreate it. Darn if I don't need another Japanese pattern book. :)
    All the outfits look so good, prompting me to make A a denim mini for summer!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Shelley. I think I know the kind of t-shirt you mean; R has had a couple over the years and I've puzzled over how to recreate them. Yes you must make a denim mini - they go with everything!

      Delete