for me

The times that I sew clothes for myself are few and very far between. It seems one bad, ill fitting sewing experience is enough to put me off sewing for myself for quite some time. But ever the optimist I try my hand at it again and again.

I've been searching for a pattern for a top for a long time, searching in vain. It's pictured in my mind clearly but no pattern designers seem to have the ability to read my mind! Then, quite by chance while waiting for some fish and chips at a sea side town over the holidays, I popped my head in a little store. It was one of those little poky stores that have way too much stock for the size of their footprint and items seemed to be falling out the door. It just so happened that I found the perfect top amongst all the bric-a-brac.

Perfect pattern yes, but not the perfect top for wearing. The fabric wasn't soft and comfy, more itchy and sticky, and not to mention the colour wasn't really me. I spent an evening carefully unpicking ALL the seams, trying to carefully maintain the pattern shapes without the fabric fraying away to nothing.

The effort paid off! I made this top up quite quickly using some fabric that I dyed with Inko Dye using a doily. The rest of the fabric came from an over-sized thrifted cotton top, that I had tried to "refashion" and re-size. But although Refanshionista seems to do it with ease, it just wasn't the case for me! I was very pleased to find it was an almost perfect match for my dyed fabric.

I fixed that little bump on the bodice once I spotted it in these pics.

I'm so pleased to have finally found an easy to sew pattern that I love! I just had to go the long way around to get it!