As the whispers continued, I tip-toed closer. The room was silent bar the tinkering on a random piano. I lifted my french curve, and prodded a heap of jersey. Nothing. I mouthed "omg" and breathed in and out so that my amazing cleavage went up and down a couple of times. I took another deep breath and lifted up my precious chambray, which was quivering underneath a puddle of oxblood faux leather.
"Clareeeeyyyyyyyy.....!"
After nearly crapping myself, I exhaled a huge sigh of relief. No mini psychos in hockey masks, but my happy skulls fabric from Toronto! "Do you remember us?" Oh happy skulls, how could I ever forget you? Let's whip you up into some spooky goodness straight away!
Inspired by the lovely Fiona's awesome scout tee, I decided to draft my oven woven tee-shirt complete with cool pleats across the bust.
To achieve this, I used my basic bodice block which I lengthened, closed the bust dart to release the waist dart for a looser fit, and then added five pleats using a cut & slash method. If anyone is interested in how I did this, let me know and I will write a tutorial. These pleats can be added easily and are useful in sheer fabrics for providing extra coverage over your bust area.
This was actually my initial intention - to hide my bra and make the top more practical to wear as the fabric is very sheer - but in the end I decided to underline with an ivory white polyester I had leftover from a project a few years ago. The skulls and underlining are joined at the shoulder seams, neckline and armholes, leaving the side seams free so that the top has a flowing movement to it. The sleeves are not underlined.
Inside view: ignore the tacking stitches still in the sleeve hem!
I finished all seams with a french seam and hemmed the bodices and sleeves with a narrow hem. The neckline is finished with bias binding I made from the skull fabric. I had to experiment on scraps for ages as both fabrics had a tantrum when it came to stitching. In the end I had to go down to a 60/8 sharp needle, which resolved the kicking and screaming, and mainly the skipped stitches.
This project took a little longer than anticipated owing to the delicate fabric, french seams and trying to pleat impossibly slinky material, but for me, the outcome has been so worth it. I really love this top. It's fun and feels great against my skin. These photos were taken in Greenwich park and I'm teaming 'Happy Skulls' with my leather-look trousers from Zara and leopard print Vans.
What's one of your favourite things about Autumn right now? For me, it's LEAVES!
No comments:
Post a Comment