A Bare Face Day

Progress is such a lovely thing and finally, I've made some. I vaguely remember sewing at a much faster pace - before - but lately, I seem to get caught up in a project and diddle along. Maybe that's bogged down in a project rather than caught up. Either way, I think I should have this top done by Monday but no promises. We'll see. Next, I have to figure out how to cover the buttons with the silk dupioni before I sew them on. I'm hoping the super amazing glue that I used for textile art work will do the trick without staining the front. We'll see.




Millicent needs a cup increase in order to hold this top (Vogue 2893) up properly. On me, it's filled out more. I'm not sure why I think my stomach is huge and sticking out because...




... I'm constantly flattening out front seams and eliminating darts. After I took the unfinished front image, I took the side seams in 3/4" and the front seams in 1 1/4" for a total of 8 1/2" mostly across the front. Before I put the pattern away, I'll make those adjustments and trace a clean copy - just in case I sew it again some time. I also need to add 3/8" to the center back and back facing pieces. Something went screwy with my math and there was only a 1/4" seam when I compared the new draft to the original pattern. Good thing I compared them or I would have sewn at 5/8 and wondered why it was so tight.

Yesterday, I wanted to stay home, sit around in my yoga pants, and have a bare face day. I didn't want to go to Fabricland and I didn't want to spend money so I dug around in my trims box hoping to come up with something that would work for the loops. I can't remember what but an item in there reminded me of this Berroco yarn and when I compared the colors, they were perfect together.

The yarn is very soft and splits easily. To strengthen it, I stitched over it with a wide, short, zigzag wrapping the yarn in a thread casing to make it more durable, easy to work with, and even closer to the perfect color.




There is a line of basting 5/8" in from each edge of the lacing strip. The chalk marks are evenly spaced. To attach the loops, I caught just a bit of the fabric along the basting line in front of the chalk line and then wrapped the cording around the pin, pulled it tight to the side, and basted it in place. It was quick without a lot of fiddly measuring and pinning. Have I mentioned how much I dislike fiddly?




The excess cording along the edge was left there until the lacing section was sewn in place and then trimmed even with the seam allowances. Then, once everything was secure, the basting stitches were pulled out. The loops aren't 100% identical but they're very very close and... it works! Good and enough.




The lacing strip starts 1/2" up from the hem and 1/2" down from the top. I did that to give the illusion that the lacing could be easily undone. In hindsight, it would be better even with the top and bottom, especially the top. The back needs the tension to help hold it securely.




This is the unfinished back before the seams were adjusted. Once the front and side seams were narrowed, it fit smoothly over my hips. The hem concerns me. There are so many levels that it's hard to tell if it will be even. It's a good thing that - should the hem look uneven - the end of the laces will sit at the curve of the derriere and be nicely distracting. I think it's more a matter of sitting the top properly on the body and having enough bust to hold it in place.

It was a good thing I didn't go to Fabricland yesterday. I would have gone first thing in the morning and have barely made it home before driving back to pick up my son since he was feeling sick. His school is a couple blocks from the fabric store and half an hour from home. It seems to me that home should be a couple blocks from the store considering how often I go there and then again, if it was closer, I might go more often and that's not a good idea although - LOL - to be fair - I've hardly been there at all since the summer. I'm more than stashed up and currently in sewing down mode.

Have a great weekend. Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - It's time to start dreaming about my next project - a skirt to go with - most likely Vogue 7937 from the Self Imposed Sewing Club. It's the one on the left in the center square of the header.