Sunburst Darts on a Top

Thanks to all for the nice comments on my last project! I enjoyed looking at your blogs too.

So I made the sunburst top with a matching gored skirt and I love both pieces.The top is today's fit V8151 and the skirt is new look 6509 and is OOP.Both were made in one day (on Wed.,my big sewing day) and were the last things for me until I finish my Christmas sewing.

Here is the top first.



I decided to use the plain knit on the body so the darts would be more prominent and the animal print for both the sleeves and the neckband. I like the effect and the only negative is that although I cut the top 1" longer than the pattern and faced the hem as well,it's still a little shorter than I like .When I made this version,



I must have added at least 3" because it's quite a bit longer.

The darts on the new one are quite a bit shorter because I thought the darts on the white one pointed too prominently to the bust. I like the short ones but the result is that the upper chest is a bit too wide as the darts didn't take in enough fabric in that area but I can live with it.




I thought you might like to see what the pattern piece looks like with the added darts.On the right is the front showing the bust dart and on the left,the bust dart is closed and opened at the neck.



In this photo, the darts are drawn in.


It was quite simple really. My bust darts were 2&1/4".( I know that's an awfully wide dart and I wouldn't ever make this top as is.Sandra Betzina made the change to this pattern at the workshop I attended but I didn't like the way it turned out.) for a total of 4.5"". When I closed them,the neckline was openend that amount.I decided I wanted five darts on each side and one in the middle. I divided the 4.5" by 11 and figured I could make each dart about 1/2" each ( I cheated a little).


The skirt has eight gores and I cut it 2" shorter than the pattern .I likt my skirts just below the knee. I skipped the zipper and inserted elastic at the waist because I got lazy. I don't particularly like elasticized waistlines but it will do in this case.

Here are the two pieces together .



And I wore the ensemble this way to church today.




A few more pics here.

I'm calling these pieces my "Blue, Navy Blue" mini wardrobe. Next up is this shirt .The fabric is a semi sheer polyester animal print that I've had in my stash for quite some time. It will have to wait until my Christmas sewing is done however.



I do hope you found time to sew this weekend and that you have a great week!

A New Favorite!

I had a great sewing week! I sprained my ankle last weekend so I had to stay off my feet for most of the last few days. Of course that didn't prevent me from sewing. I'm a slow sewer though so I only finished two pieces but I'm very happy with them.

I'll show you first and then give you a few details.



And here is my inspiration taken from the Coldwater Creek website a couple of years ago.



The only real difference is in the sleeves which I made full length rather than 3/4.

The stats,

Fabric ...polyester Ponti in blue and navy animal print.

Trim ...foldover cotton braiding by Domcord bought at Fabricville.

Interfacing... Fusi Knit. ( I only interfaced the front facing and the upper collar so as to keep the softness of the knit fabric).

Pattern....A combination of S2374 for the front and back, the sleeves from the Bacall Sweater by Lois Hinse (but I cut them wider at the bottom)and a self drafted collar. The sleeveless shell is my favorite S3604

I ended up sewing the braiding entirely by hand because the sewing machine tended to "spread " it and as I said ,I had to do a lot of sitting so it gave me something to do.

Here are a few detail shots.






Ouch! The colour in this one is awful!




I wore this set with navy wool gabardine pants (made with my favorite pants pattern, V2873) to church this morning.My DH took this pic and he said that this is a real Diana outfit.



More pics here.

Next up is this top and a gored skirt out of the coordinating plain blue.



The article on the sunburst darts is by Marci Tilton and was in the Vogue Patterns magazine in the Oct./Nov.issue,2006. The pattern is Today's Fit V8151. I made this before and love it.

Have a great week all and Happy Sewing!