The Late Night Sewist

This spring has been so busy that I failed to post anything in April! But I am happy that one of the reasons why I have been busy, is the sewing hobby itself, not just work!

I actually have several items to show by now, but lets start with a simple top I made in record time of about 24 hours from tracing the patterns to the finished object, including packing and preparing for a 10-day trip in the meanwhile!

I am not so fond of cowl necklines or gathered details, so I really went through all my pattern stash to make sure that model 130 from Burdastyle September 2012 is the one to go with.

Surprisingly, I am happy with the result! I think it has mostly to do with the fabric, there is something so happy and summery about those colours!

I didn´t make any alterations to the pattern, although I was sure I would have to, when I cut the pieces out at first – due to the gathers on the sleeves on one side seam, the pieces are extremely long! Eventually I think it worked out just fine.

I used a 5mm wide elastic tape for the gathers, sewing them under tension onto the seam allowances. Because my fabric is quite elastic, I used a twin needle throughout the project, making sure that every seam that had to be elastic, would be so. For more stable knits, I usually use twin needle only for the hems, but the side seams etc work fine with the regular needle, too.

I don´t know the exact composition of my fabric, but it seems to be prone to pilling. However the random print of the Statue of Liberty and Eiffel Tower in patches of bright colours was appealing and the top was easy to sew, which makes it ok, even if I don´t get that much wear out of it.

Overall, I think the top is a nice thing to wear during summer evenings, but I already made use of it in the cold conference rooms in Singapore, which is the destination I was packing for while making the top! More about that in the next post!