Have you ever had the occasion, dinner invitation, birthday party, drinks with the girls or even a business meeting, when you just haven’t got anything to wear and you need to run a top up quick ?
What could be simpler or more versatile than a little sleeveless number? I’ve chosen a basic pattern with a round neckline, classic but always stylish, which I will alter for future projects so that one pattern can give me a lot of options like a v neck or a square neckline. I will alter the hem too, maybe making it asymmetrical, longer with vented side seams or even shorter for a crop top.
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A quick reference sketch to work from so I know where I’m going with future projects.
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As this was a last minute, need an outfit quick, project, I had to make do with the materials I had to hand in my stash box. I chose a purple polyester crepe de chine (poor man’s Silk) and had a hard time choosing a matching thread to use. It’s not always easy to match colours, it depends a lot upon the lighting. If I am selecting colours in a shop I always go to the window, to the natural light source if possible, artificial light can have different qualities, which drastically alter how it looks. In this case I decided to go with the darkest shade.
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As you can see here, Ive used the same fabric for the garment and the facing, I haven’t used any interfacing as I wanted a soft edge. After stitching the facing to the neck and armholes I turn it the right way by bringing the back pieces through to the front. At this stage I did the under stitching then joined the side seams together and finally the back seam. This method of facing creates a very neat finish.
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Blind hem stitching the hemline for an invisible finish.
So how long did it take?
From cutting out the fabric to the final press on the ironing board took me only two hours. I love the purple colour (it reminds me of prince in the 80’s), it’s a great choice for teaming with jeans for a casual look or with black for a more formal, smart style.
Tell me your stories about getting it sewn up super quick.
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