Friday 8 October 2010

quick quick top


I went to see a friend for lunch on tuesday and she gave me a length of fabric she didn't want. It was in a carrier bag so I chucked it in the car boot and went to school to collect T, go to parents' evening and then go to collect Little I. Then home to make a quick supper for two tired children. So it was not until wednesday afternoon that I got the bag out of my car boot and had a look. I was surprised by how much nicer the fabric was than I had initially thought. My friend just said it was some not very nice fabric that maybe I could use for small scraps. When I looked at it I decided it would make a good loose fitting top. It is slightly tablecloth-like fabric so I am not sure if will look like I am wearing a table cloth.


There was not a huge amount of fabric but I have managed to squeeze this top out of it using Simplicity 3835 (again). The good thing about this pattern is that I now know I can get a top with short sleeves out of a relatively small piece of fabric. The stripey bit at the bottom of the shirt was in the middle of the long narrow piece of fabric so I cut the fabric in half along the mid section of the stripey bit. Then I cut out the back and front pieces and had just enough left to do the sleeves. I managed to match the back pieces but didn't have enough fabric to match the sleeves.


Another thing I like about the 3835 pattern (I have used view C here) is that it is super quick to make, comfortable to wear and happily has no fiddly facings to make. I washed the fabric yesterday afternoon, cut it out last night and sewed it up this afternoon while Little I was at nursery. I hemmed it while in my car waiting outside T's school for him. I just have about 4 inches of hem left to sew but I photographed it quickly before the light got too bad.
I have been working slowly for the last few weeks on a slower sewing project and I am still committed to the idea of sewing slowly, taking care, but it is refreshing for me to intersperse slow sewing with some quick quick projects.

5 comments:

  1. So sweet! What a clever friend to know that you would be able to turn it into something fabulous! Looks perfect for this time of year ...have a good weekend x

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  2. Lovely top! After seeing your gorgeous simplicity 3835 tops i dragged myself to town this afternoon to get it, but they told me its been discontinued :( No!! Going to check out ebay now. I think the skirt material is a wool mix...its the same as the shorts (another rag market find) Hope you have a lovely weekend xx

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  3. ahhhhh Alexandra...you answered what i was going to ask...where can i get the '3835' from...i have searched the internet today and thought i must have been going bonkers because i couldn't locate it anywhere...but stumbled upon plenty of people raving about it...argh...how frustrating - let me know if you find 2 and i will have a hunt too....

    btw Debbie...lovely top - i'm in awe of you zooming something up so quickly with small people to run around after!!

    caroline XX

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  4. Thank you so much that is so kind of you! that would be wonderful, if theres any of my patterns you would like traced just let me know...i don't have many but i can email you a list xx

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  5. Hooray on matching print! I've just been organizing my pattern stash and thought I should give 3835 a try (I think I might try the dress!) :)

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