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Thursday 5 October 2017

The last of summer sewing?



During a brief sunny spell I finally managed to take a few pictures of my latest sewing endeavours. Warning: haste makes waste. Just remember that when you watch this blurry pics it's not your eyesight that's letting you down, it's mine. The sun caused reflections in my glasses, so I took them off. And then when I checked these pictures they looked perfectly fine to me. Gah!




See what happened? My camera focused on the roses instead of my new top.




I bought this gauzy knit fabric a few years ago because I loved the royal blue colour, but didn't really know what to do with it. It is transparent and rather clingy. Then I saw swing tops popping up all summer and I decided to hack the Cahmerette Concord pattern and add a bit of swing.
I used the midlength with my favourite elbow length sleeves, like I did in this earlier version. For that extra summery feel I changed to a double v-neck.






 I adjusted the neckband in order to make mitered v's instead of folding one end over the other.




I think I could have added a bit more width for more swing, but at least my jeans button is not poking through my top as it would have done with a regular shaped tee.

Although technically summer is over and the garden is already starting to show those beautiful autumn colours I'm still in denial. Luckily the 'no white after Labor Day'-rule doesn't apply here since our Labour Day is on May 1st!




Whatever your season looks like, happy sewing!

Edited to add that the white jeans were refashioned. They had been hanging in the back of my closet for years because the waistband was a bit tight and the legs were somewhere in between flared and straight. I slimmed the legs below the knee and used the extra fabric to insert tiny triangles in the waistband. I'm very pleased with the result, well worth the effort!

20 comments:

  1. You were right in choosing this colour knit as it suits you beautifully. This is a lovely tee shirt and the swing trend hopefully stays as it suits the mature figure I think. I certainly love my swing tee shirts these days.

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    1. I welcome every trend that gives my waist its much needed space! I do want to avoid the tent look so I have been cautious while adding width to the front. The experiments will continue!

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  2. That's such a beautiful colour on you, glad you found a way to make it work

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  3. you look fantastic, love that blue color and the front/back V neckline. and yes to the jeans fix - it is so fun to pull something out of the closet and give it a makeover. great outfit.

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    1. Thank you! Totally agree on the fixing fun!

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  4. Blurry or not, you look wonderful! That is a lovely color on you, and your refashioned pants look like a winner to me. Happy Fall!

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    1. Thanks Karen! I love the colour of my top but it doesn't go well with blue jeans. Glad I could save the white pants!

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  5. Yay for you for making something in the back of your closet work for you again. I'm in denial about my garden also - if I leave all the seed heads for the birds, I'm being super ecological...right?

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    1. Absolutely! That's what seed heads are for!

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  6. The top is gorgeous and fits you beautifully. Love the vibrant blue color.

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    1. Thank you. I think I need more vibrant blue in my wardrobe!

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  7. Beautiful top. I love the whole outfit. Blue and white always look so fresh together.

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    1. Thanks Jean. I agree on the colour combo for summer. For autumn I will try the same shade of blue mixed with dark navy.

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  8. Such a stunning colour! I've got a RTW swingy tee that I love and was thinking of hacking the Cashmerette too. Great minds think alike! I hope mine works out as beautifully as yours.

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    1. Thanks! I'd never tried this style before but I really like it. The Concord is easy to adjust and I do love the wider neckline, or the v, to balance the extra fabric below the waist.

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  9. What a lovely modification! I sometimes do this with my glasses too :-D

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    1. Thanks, Renee. Sometimes the world just looks better without glasses :)

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