My good friend Tash unwittingly gave me a great design idea. She was going to use a scallop hem tutorial and this made me think about what other shapes you could do.
This top makes a great project to try out my shaped hem idea. If it works then great, but if it doesn't then I can either chop off the hem and straighten it back out, or just let this go.
It worked out well!
This is what I started with:
It was only when I looked that I realised that I already had to do a repair job on the top of the side seams. I hadn't worn this in a while so I didn't recall that there were holes, - and my hand sewing wasn't all that great either:
I machine basted the hem to turn out and press (I pressed to the inside first but realised that this wouldn't work. Lucky escape!). Then I drew the pattern on and started to v-e-r-y slowly stitch it. It wasn't as easy as I expected:
My shape is a bit overly complex. But I like it a lot.
I then turned this inside out and prodded and poked until all the little corners and peaks looked okay. Again not as easy as I blithely assumed: my scissor tip method did end in a couple of frayed tread ends poking through. I ruthlessly cut those off. This isn't a high value item - I just want to enjoy it while it lasts.
Then I edge-stitched this to retain the shape when I wash this next time:
No idea why this is upside down |
I also ripped the long sleeves out and inserts wedge shaped gussets into the top of the side seams. This way I could make the top big enough to fit at the bust, and it also had the added advantage of getting rid of those pesky holes. Win-win!
I scooped the armholes out a bit to make a pleasing shape. That ended up being a bit of a problem: the armholes probably gaped before but this emphasises it. So I sewed bust darts in, longer ones at first but these looked awful, then shorter ones. I am still not over the moon with this area, but I think top is wearable.
Here it is:
I think this is a successful project that I hope to get lots of wear out of in the summer!
Thank you Tash for the inspiration!