A Cloud White Cielo Top

My last project that I cut out in August is done! I bought a soft cotton duvet with a nice woven grid design since I don't have much white in my stash. I was planning to just use it for some art quilt experiments but it was just so soft it called out to me to become a top! 😄

I wanted a boxy top in white, and decided to go with a pattern I have made a couple of times before, the Cielo by Closet Core. I really like the fit & details in this one & it went together quickly once I got going. 

I used the bias binding option for the neckline instead of facings this time as there was a bit of show-through with the white fabric so binding looked neater to me. I also lengthened it by 2" (and made a hem of only one inch). The only other thing I did differently from previous makes was to leave the sleeve cuffs flat instead of folding them back and topstitching. In this fabric I liked the slightly longer and more relaxed look. 

This is a great staple pattern & I love this project. The fabric is so soft to wear & now I have a nice white top -- hopefully I won't spill coffee on it the first time I wear it 🤪

Patchwork Trio Top

Another item I finished in August (at the very end of the month!) was this quick little top pattern. It's the Trio Top, a pattern from the Matchy Matchy sewing club book. 

There was a scrap sewing challenge on IG in August, & that along with a couple of other stash sewing initiatives, inspired me to try to make something scrappy. I decided to use a handful of small leftover bits from various projects to make the central panels of the top - which is simple enough to let the patchwork shine. 

The squares incorporate pieces leftover from 3 tops, 4 dresses, a skirt, vest & 2 accessories I have made previously. The black bits are the more narrow leftovers from a pair of culottes I cut out recently but haven't finished yet!

I cut 3.5" squares for a finished size of 3" but ended up adding the small elastic casing at the top of the centre panels using bias binding. The pattern has you fold over the top but I hadn't accounted for that in my patchwork & didn't want the top row to be noticeably smaller than the rest so a bias binding to the rescue! I actually really like the accent of black at the top & feel it pulls it all together.  

This is a simple pattern but I did make a couple of small adjustments. I cut a medium but lowered the neckline & added 1.5" to the side panels to make it all even. I would probably only lower the front panel if I made it again as the back feels a bit weird at this level. But the front is definitely better for me this way. 

I used up a few of my very small leftover pieces & some of the larger bits & had fun putting them together. This isn't my usual kind of thing but it was a fun project to make. It's a cute pattern & with fabric that's a bit drapier I think it would be a softer look. I was quite impressed by the way my red/pink leftovers all went together for this one!

Dark Floral Bow Blouse for Spring

This blouse, New Look 6476 from the 1980s, departs from the solid colours in my Sudoku plan that I've made so far. It picks up the blue and black, and adds a sprinkling of other bright colours. 

I thrifted this pattern and loved the blouse, so thought I'd give it a go now. I had this floral rayon in the stash from at least a year ago and it was perfect. 

It's a quick pattern - the only fussy bits are getting the tie on without stretching out the neckline in this shifty rayon. It's a little fiddly getting that tie on, what with keeping part of it free so that you can handstitch it down to cover the collar seam afterward, and also having to pin the front facing over the basted collar -- I was cursing my choice of rayon challis there for a bit! But it turned out so beautifully once it was finally done and pressed. 

There are just four pattern pieces: front, back, tie and facing. And no interfacing called for. The hems are simple 5/8" turned under hems. This is an interesting variation on the pussy bow blouse, though, since the tie is not at all a bow. It is wide and short, and simply gets looped over itself in a loose half knot. I like the way it drapes, and while I thought the V-neck was going to be a little too low for my liking, it actually works perfectly once the tie is adjusted, since that covers another inch of the neckline. 

I cut 14 at the shoulders and 16 for the rest, giving a little excess at the hipline when I cut it out. I think it worked well, and this will match with a lot in my wardrobe. It's cheerful, comfortable and easy wearing. Just right for me, and a perfect summer weight. I'm glad I finally tried this one. 

80s Style Cobalt Linen Top

A vintage pattern in cobalt today! I have a wardrobe pattern from the 80s, Vogue 8617, that has a lot of nice pieces in it. I decided to finally make the top, which I've been thinking about for a long time -- it has many interesting elements. From shape to button opening to sleeve, there is a lot here that I like. 

I cut this in 14/16 and it worked out perfectly. When I looked at the pattern, I thought this would be a quick and easy project. It was a bit more complicated than I first thought - there were a couple of tricky bits getting the facings on correctly but it all worked out. After some initial confusion and having to recut the button stand as I'd put it together backwards (yes, it did have a specific orientation it needed) everything else went together nicely. 

This is a linen blend from my stash; I've had it a long time and think that it worked out really nicely for this top. I love the fit of the cut on sleeve, I really like the shape of the neckline, and the side slits make it the perfect fit and a comfortable one to wear. I might use a lighter weight interfacing on the front piece next time but that's really the only thing I'd change with this one. I love it! 

One funny thing about it, I had it cut out and ready to go but could not find buttons to match, even in my extensive button collection. I looked at the fabric store but couldn't find anything there either. I was considering using silver or clear buttons but didn't love the way they looked. Then I was at the thrift store, looked down and saw two cards of the perfect blue buttons just waiting for me. The exact tone of blue and size I needed. Such a great find! A week after I bought them, they are already in use. 

This is one of the pieces of my Sudoku Wardrobe, but I think it will also go with many of the things in my wardrobe already. I love this one! 

Counting on this Marcy Tilton top for Fabricville

I recently ordered this cotton fabric from Fabricville for my latest spring blogger project. I also ordered a Vogue dress pattern to go with it, but when I received the fabric, I thought that a cotton top would be a better fit for the hand of this fabric, and would also work better with the scale of the print. Fortunately, I'd just bought Vogue 2030, a Marcy Tilton woven top pattern that seemed like a better match.

I had to be so careful cutting this out, as I wanted to line up the pattern across the front, at the side seams, and at the lower pocket seam as well. Not perfectly, but at least get the lines level so it didn't disturb the eye too much. I think it worked out quite well, the pattern feels regular across the whole piece. 

I like the visual effect, rather like a smock. But this was a tough project overall! There were so many issues I had while making this, and it began to feel a little exhausting. 

The pattern itself was not the best I've ever experienced. The fit looks a bit relaxed on the cover, but the pattern is quite close fitting. I cut it at 16, the largest option on my pattern, which matches my measurements. However, while the seams are 5/8, I sewed up my side seams and underarm seams at 3/8 to give myself a bit more room once I'd tried it on. It's still a bit closer fitting in the bust and especially in the arms than I'd prefer, but this fabric does have a fair bit of give to it, so it's not uncomfortable, just that I like a bit more ease usually. It fits quite close overall so do be conscious of that if you choose to make this too. 

The other issues I had were the sleeve openings on the view I made - there are cute keyhole openings at the cuff, solely for decorative purposes as a band is also sewn on afterward. These took a long time to get right, and they don't sit flat at the top. I think there needed to be more of a curve at the top edge somehow. The angle at the top is kind of poky-outy. 

And that collar!! It took ages to figure out how to attach it so that the ends didn't poke out to the front between the attached facing seam. I had to fiddle with it, baste it, tear it out, adjust it again, try again, tear it out again, etc. quite a few times. I finally just fudged it enough that it looked alright and enclosed everything. I couldn't really make sense of the instructions or the illustration for this step -- I tried it as I could understand it from the drawings and it just wouldn't work. Still, now that it's done it is kind of interesting - I can wear it standing as designed, or undo the top button and then fold it down if I want a more shirt collar look. 

So I think I'd say that this pattern itself is not one I'm too keen to repeat any time soon. I do like the final product, although I'd like it even more if it were a touch larger. I'm not sure what I did wrong on this one - I thought I'd measured it all accurately, but clearly not. Still, it's wearable and the fabric is a lot of fun. And I love the pockets on the front, slightly slouchy and artsy. This one is right in the middle for me; I don't hate it but the issues with it mean I don't fully love it either. Oh well, I am sure I can make it work in my wardrobe! And one other good thing about it is that it matches with my ongoing Sudoku wardrobe project, so I can use it in one of my grid squares for that as well. One more down!

Cobalt Cotton Butterick Top

After my first Sudoku project, the Box Box, I've gone back to my 'vintage' pattern collection for the second easy top in the lineup. 

This one is just one piece of a wardrobe pattern, Butterick 6450. It's a nice button up blouse with extended shoulders, light and airy for summer or for wearing under a sweater or jacket. I love the colour of this cotton that I've had in my stash for a long, long time. (still lots of it left, too). 

This was a straightforward top, although I had to grade between 16 at shoulder and 18 at hip, and also shorten by an inch above the waistline. Pressing up the curved hem at bottom and the armhole was really the lengthiest part of the whole project!

I stalled for a minute on this one because of the buttons. I hadn't chosen buttons ahead of time, confident that I would have some in my stash of 5 full cookie tins of buttons that would work. I sorted through all of these and could not find the right size and colour to work with this blouse. So I had to put it aside for a bit until I had time to get down to the fabric store and pick some up!  

But of course I had another project to work on in the meantime... :) 

I think this is really cute and love the colour. It's a nice basic that will get a lot of use with a variety of the items already in my wardrobe. 

Pink Box Box Blouse

My first Sudoku wardrobe project was the Box Box top by Merchant & Mills. I've had this pattern for over a year and have been wanting to try it so this was the perfect time! 

This was one of only two new fabrics in my wardrobe plan. I really wanted the right colour of pink so bought some cotton at my local Fabricland. It's so pretty, though quite lightweight and fairly transparent. I thought a top with front pleats might work well with the fabric. 

It was pretty straightforward. The pattern was well designed with lots of markings to help form the pleats. There is also a stitch guide for the "Z" shaped stitching that holds down the pleats. I found that I had to lengthen the pattern -- I added 1.5" to the hem when cutting, but then also ended up giving it a narrow hem to keep as much length as possible. Might add a touch more next time to account for more hem! 

Another nice detail of this simple top was the back neckine opening. There is a slit and a button and loop. They give instructions for a rouleau loop to button it up so I thought I'd try it. I can't believe I got my hook loop turner to finally work and got a tiny rouleau that I was very pleased with! 

The neckline facing was one more thing I had to fiddle with a bit. This fabric is quite lightweight, so I cut the facings and interfaced them with lightweight fusible - that all worked fine, but when I was testing the position of it I noticed that I could see the white interfacing through the blouse. Ack! But the fabric is too lightweight to have a non-interfaced facing. I couldn't really use binding because of the back slit, either. So I cut another facing and layered it with the existing one, sandwiching the fusible in between. After that, I couldn't see the interfacing from the outside or the inside, which was perfect. And the fabric is so floaty that it didn't add any excess weight either. 

I considered using french seams because of the fabric but hadn't accounted for that when I cut it out so just trimmed and pressed the seams to one side and hoped it would be fine. I think it is: I don't notice the seam allowances through the blouse, unless I'm looking for them. And I would be the only one doing that! 

It fits really nicely (I made size 14) and the instructions were clear. The only small issues I had with it were down to my fabric choice. But with this colour, I had to do it! 

Agustina Boxy Top in X-Rayon

I made a little tester project this week! I wanted to see how this Agustina boxy top (by Fabrics-Store) fit, since I'm thinking incorporating some fabric/art techniques into a boxy top project -- I have a couple of choices which I've made before, but wanted to test this one as well.

Fortunately for me, I also got this fun fabric (is it bamboo or x-rays?) at my Garment Guild meetup to test it out! This is a heavier weight rayon and there was enough to cut this out comfortably. 

I made a M/L, and added 1.5" to the length. I made a narrow hem on the bottom so if I wanted a deeper one I'd add a bit more length. 

I like the way this fits, not too boxy and the shoulder and arm area is a good fit. The neck band is sewn using my favourite technique, one I learned with the Sorbetto long ago. The instructions have links to blog tutorials for this step, which would be handy if someone hasn't done this technique before. 

I also like the detail of the sleeve cuff, I think it adds something a little extra to this simple pattern. This only took me a few hours to cut and sew, and I am pleased with it. I may use this pattern again.