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Saturday 3 January 2015

It's going to mess with your eyes!

I saw this fabric a few months ago in Edinburgh Fabrics and for various reasons I didn't get back to buy the fabric until a couple of week ago. Right, the pattern is quite...how shall I describe it?...vivid?...stripey?...feathery?...all of those describe this fabric but probably the chap in the shop who cut the fabric and sold it to me described it best- "it's like one of those magic eye pictures". Careful with your eyes, here it is-

I just love this! I'd already decided on the pattern, it was going to be a batwing long sleeved top. I used New Look 6216, added 2" to the body length and made the sleeves as long as the fabric would let me. I pre-washed the fabric before cutting it out. I'm learning this is really a 'good practice' thing to do and I've started pre-washing all my fabrics, even the polyesters which are far less likely to shrink.

Back to the sewing! I've already used this pattern quite a few times before, here, here and very memorably here too! 

Here's an 'action photo' of the finished top. I've already worn and washed it since I finished sewing it a week ago. 

Now, isn't it funny how you pull out a tried and tested pattern and set about sewing up a very simple, 3 pattern piece top and hit a slight unforeseen problem- the stripes. I just couldn't get the stripes to match each other when I was laying out the fabric before cutting. I realised a while after trying to do this that the problem is the stripes are printed slightly 'off' the straight, i.e. the stripes aren't at right angles to the selvages. You probably heard me cursing, wherever you are in the world! You might be able to see the stripe-malfunction results in the finished hem of the top in the photo below. 


I wanted to use this pattern with a striped fabric so the stripes would go horizontally across the body and then vertically down the sleeves. I now realise that working with stripes can be problematic but with sewing this top, I've learnt what I need to look out for when sewing with stripes so it's been a good experience for me...especially as I've got two more lengths of striped fabric in the 'to sew' queue! 

Have you been tripped up by a pattern you've used before?   

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