2/18/12

Challenge 11:: Marina top:: finished

Marina. 

I don't know whether it was the lighting, or just the fact that this dark blue makes a big contrast against the white background, but this was hard to photograph. And I am no expert. This is the first time I had to modify the pictures a bit. Just a bit.


I used a piece of fabric from my stash. I am still keeping with the promise (you know the one I would not buy anything until I absolutely have to. The definition of "absolutely" is a little... vague...)


I really like this fabric. It feels silky; it is on the thicker side though - you could easily make a skirt out of it. Or a dress. Not sheer at all. I don't think it's silk though, probably some made-made fabric. But it really feels good. It is not slippery and I did not have any problem sewing it. (I had this nightmarish experience recently with pure silk. My machine just would not sew through it. I could not figure out why. I changed needles, tension, thread. Nothing. I ended up serging anything I could. Everything else I sewed by hand.)


The fabric is dark blue with some leaf (?) pattern. It ironed perfectly, and does not wrinkle much. I barely had enough for this top (I had to cut the back from two pieces, so I ended up with a back seam, and the bow collar ended up not as wide as I planned). 


The reason I had so little of the fabric is that actually I have used it before. For a top I really liked. Then I washed it. I know, I should have washed the fabric before, which I usually do with my cottons and linens. But this time I wasn't sure if I should wash this. And then I did - after! sewing it. And it shrank so much, and it completely changed the feel, I had to toss it. So I know for sure this is dry clean only.


As you may have noticed, I do not have a pattern piece for the bow collar. It is simply a straight piece of fabric - I think I cut it about 12 cm wide and as long as the width of the fabric. You can also cut it on a bias, but I did not have enough fabric for that.


Since there is no buttons in the front I could not really sew the bow all the way down to the bottom of the V neck ( Also, it would not tie nicely). So I sewed it down about half way from the shoulder. You could wear it tied or not. If there is an interest I will write up a little tutorial to show how you sew this.


Overall I like it. The arm openings are a bit deeper, so if I make this one again I will redraw them without the 2cm drop down the side seam. The top has a lot of ease but I like that with this design. 

Some techniques you might find useful:

Previous Challenge 11 posts:


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