Another week has flown by and the sewing had not been touched. Before I could start sewing I had to do the ironing and there was quite a bit as I did not do it last weekend and had just ironed a few things during the week to keep us going. I got it all done early this morning and then we headed out for a few hours with our overseas guest. This afternoon has been wet so it was a good excuse to sew rather than being out in the garden.
I could have finished the hand sewing on the green skirt or finished making the denim one but I decided that I needed a change of scenery. The first thing I did was cut out a white shirt for my daughter from the pattern I had drafted a couple of weeks ago.
Then I moved on to drafting another pattern. I have given quite a bit of thought to what style I would use for this piece of fabric.
I drafted the top from this ensemble but with a few modifications.
The neckline will be a ‘v’ rather than square. The lower edge of the sleeves and body will have a few rows of shirring elastic rather than being gathered into a band.
I decided to make a prototype before cutting into my new fabric that I bought especially to make this top. In the spirit of using up my stash, I found a pretty piece of lightweight fabric which was given to me a year or so ago. Despite much thought I had never been able to come up with an idea of how to use it and there is just over 4 metres of fabric. So at least some of it is now the prototype.
To get an idea of how it might look I decided to simply baste the pieces together in the first instance.
This is not a particularly flattering photograph but it gives an idea of the style.
Things I discovered:
I can easily get it over my head
The neckline is perfect
I will cut the sleeve a bit longer next time
I am going to recut the front body as there is too much fullness in the front
When I cut the pattern in the good fabric I will straighten the side seams and take out the little bit of shaping at the waistline
Even though this is just a test run, I really like the fabric and I am sure it will earn a place in my wardrobe.
organised castle 
Looks good. I agree with your slight adjustments you plan to make. The blue dress looks lovely. Your sister has bought a couple of lovely dresses from Yandina markets. They are good material, well made and fit her beautifully.
It is great to be able to customise the pattern to suit.
I have come to the concept of making toiles such as you’ve just done quite late in my sewing life, but am a complete convert. At the moment, I can’t bring myself to actually buy even cheap fabric for them though, and just use unattractive salvaged stuff. Eventually I’m sure I’ll run out of that, and will use inexpensive/gifted/otherwise stashed fabric for toiles.
You are so adventurous with your ‘modifications’! It’s inspiring. 🙂
Thanks, Julia. It is definitely worth the extra effort to get a good end result.