Cover Designs! #39: In a New York Minute

 

Cover Designs is a feature in which I try to match up the outfit on a book cover with a dress pattern and sometimes even potential fabric matches as well. Today's pick is In a New York Minute by Kate Spencer. 

Summary from Publisher: 

Franny Doyle is having the worst day. She’s been laid off from her (admittedly mediocre) job, the subway doors ripped her favorite silk dress to ruins, and now she’s flashed her unmentionables to half of lower Manhattan. On the plus side, a dashing stranger came to her rescue with his (Gucci) suit jacket. On the not-so-plus side, he can’t get away from her fast enough.

Worse yet? Someone posted their (entirely not) meet-cute online. Suddenly Franny and her knight-in-couture, Hayes Montgomery III, are the newest social media sensation, and all of New York is shipping #SubwayQTs.

Only Franny and Hayes couldn’t be a more disastrous match. She’s fanciful, talkative, and creative. He’s serious, shy, and all about numbers. Luckily, in a city of eight million people, they never have to meet again. Yet somehow, Hayes and Franny keep running into each other—and much to their surprise, they enjoy each other’s company. A lot. But when Franny’s whole world is turned upside down (again!), can she find the courage to trust in herself and finally have the life—and love—she’s always wanted?

The cute summer outfit that Franny is wearing on the cover would be easy to replicate as a two piece set. The top is a perfect match for the Stitch Witch Atlas top - though of course you might want to make it in red!

The skirt could be made with almost any basic A-line skirt pattern; you could even draft your own. But if you're thinking patterns, try the Liesl & Co Garibaldi skirt in the short view, or the free Libby A-Line skirt from Tessuti. Or any of the many big four patterns of course! 

Garibaldi

Libby

Look for some beautiful red silk and you'd be set. Try this luscious silk noil from Gala Fabrics in BC

Or maybe a lighter weight linen from Pure Linen Envy for a more summery feel

Whichever it is, wear it happily and watch out for subway doors! 

A La Brea Woven Tee

The PatternReview Sewing Bee just started, and the first round challenge was to make a tee inspired by your childhood. I have the La Brea tee by Halfmoon Atelier on my to-sew list, and with its 80s styling, I had a plan to make a tee in the colours of my 80's middle school teams. But it turned out to be a disaster -- the stretch was wrong and the stretch bias tape I tried to use for the distinctive lines of the La Brea did not work. Too much distortion and wonkiness. So I gave up on the contest.

But I still wanted to work on the La Brea! While View A of this pattern is for a knit tee with very distinctive bias neck and shoulder edges, View B is designed for a woven, with french seams and sleeve cuffs.

So I found a lovely piece of nubby green silk in my stash, just enough for this top, that I'd picked up at a garage sale two years ago. And I cut the La Brea in a size 7, grading to 9 at the hip. Her sizing is simply numerical, ranging from 1 - 18 which is equivalent to a 28 - 61 inch bust and 33 3/4 - 67 inch hip.

I loved working with this silk. It's gorgeous to handle, presses so well, and drapes like a dream. I'm not sure it is 100% my best colour, but I do really like it.

The french seams are a little fiddly considering that the seam allowances are 3/8" but otherwise this is a straightforward sew. After french seaming the sides and shoulders, you stitch on the sleeve band, hem it, and finish the neckline with a bias facing (my favourite finish).

I like the fit, and this goes great under a cardigan or jacket. When summer arrives I'm sure it'll look nice with a longer, button front full skirt too -- I'm seeing those everywhere and have a couple in mind to try out.

So while I ended up finishing the woven version of this pattern first, I'll be going back to another round of the knit version. I can't stop thinking about that lovely bias edge that was the reason I wanted to make this top in the first place!