Tops – Quixotic Pixels

My wardrobe is in a dire need of a refresh. It’s been a year or so since I’ve sewn much, due to a lot of major things going on behind the scenes, and I’m not a prolific shopper, so some of my favorite pieces are starting to wear out. I have identified a handful of basics to form my core wardrobe.I’ll be making jeans, tees, leggings, work trousers, and a button down shirt. For fun, I’d like to make that cute New Look 6000 dress…maybe even in red, as pictured. I also want to tailor a traditional jacket. I can use a well fitting jacket for work, so it’s not just a garment that will take up space in my closet like the Marie Antoinette gown.

Finally, because I love to knit, I’ve added two knitting projects to my queue: a traditional tam and a “So Faded” sweater which I’ll knit out of some gorgeous yarn I bought from Asylum Fibers.

I will not be restricting myself to any particular patterns because I don’t know if they’ll work for me until I start messing around with them. For a case in point, take the Grainline Lark T-shirt pictured above. After I taped all the PDF pattern sheets together, I could immediately see it wasn’t going to work for me. It appears to be designed for someone who has an angular rather than a curvy shape and their upper torso is significantly longer than mine. I could have made some extensive alterations to make it work for me, but that didn’t seem like much fun, especially when I have two t-shirt patterns that I know work for me, the old Ottobre t-shirt from 2009 or so and the Deer and Doe Plantain.

Here’s my first version of the Ottobre t-shirt this year. I used up some stash fabric, which is another goal of mine.

For the striped t-shirt, I used the long sleeve pattern from Deer and Doe, but altered the sleeve cap to fit it onto the Ottobre t-shirt body.

I also added a cat for decoration.

Next up: button down blouses!

Happy new year!

More often than not, when sewing projects turn out differently than expected, they end up in the rag bin. This was a nice change of pace. This top was just supposed to be a toile of the Laurie Striped Tee from Named Patterns. The fabric was a bit of jersey I had picked up several years ago during my VERY BRIGHT COLORS phase. Looking at those colors, after being subjected to nearly eight months of rain and gloom, shocked my system. Maybe I needed the shock, like people whose hearts stop beating, need the paddles stat. The colors buoy my spirits–a relief as I am grappling with some heavy issues.

I like the way this tee turned out so much, that I’m sure it will be in frequent rotation during the months to come.

I made very few alterations to the pattern. I narrowed the shoulders a little bit, and maybe could have done a smidge more. While I was sewing it, I was concerned the neck hole looked mighty small. I contemplated widening it, but decided to give it a shot as-is, and, since it isn’t choking me, I’ll leave it be.

I was also worried that the neckband was going to sag or flop, because I didn’t have to stretch it very much while sewing. It’s laying nice and flat. Perhaps I shouldn’t fret so much.

Not having sewn any Named Patterns before, it struck me that the instructions were on the minimal side. That’s ok for me, since I’ve done a lot of sewing, but beginners may need to enlist the help of a friend or crack open sewing books if they’re not quite clear on a technique.

Thank you to Named Patterns and whatever sewing deities were looking out for me, because this project success came just when I needed a win.