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Saturday, February 20, 2010

Orange Dots!

Here is my cute new top, which I love. It makes me feel so ready for spring. It was in the 40s today here, so I wore it even though it is February. Take THAT, Jack Frost.



Ok, let me level with you - the reason the pic is cropped so close is that my fly was halfway down and I wasn't about to take more pictures. There. Now that info is out in cyberspace forever. And if I'm looking a little rough, it might be due to operating on 4 hours sleep today... teething baby. Nuff said.

Enough TMI. Here's some info on the shirt:
Fabric is rayon jersey from Sawyer Brook. Sorry, it sold out pretty quickly. The brown band is also rayon jersey from Sawyer Brook. I am so proud of that little band. It's so even and perfect (not to brag or anything, but yeah it is). I came up with a method all by myself, although I'm sure someone came up with it first:

I used Steam-a-seam to bond the brown band to the neckline, right sides together. Then, without stitching at all, I folded the band around the neck edge and topstitched. That's it. The ironed bond kept everything together perfectly until the top stitching, and it is perfectly even thanks to the 1/2 inch tape. I'll definitely be using this method again. It wouldn't work for a tight neckline, but for this or a V neck, it's great.

The basic pattern is just a copy of a RTW knit top I sacrificed last summer. I eyeballed the neckline and think it's a good depth. I don't need a cami and there is no issue with it getting distorted around my bust.

That's all I got.

I do want to answer Gail who asked:
"stupid beginner question here: how do you get a straight hem? i rmember as a young child standing still as my grandma or older sister would pin the hem line up to make sure it was all even. i don't have another adult to do that for me, so how does one make sure hems are straight (without having a dressform)??? thanks!!"

Ha! I have those same memories... standing on a kitchen chair while my mom meticulously measured up with a yard stick to make sure it was even (are you reading today, Mom?) Well, I'm not nearly so careful, I guess. I stand in front of a mirror wearing my creation and fiddle with pinning up two or three places so the front hem is where I want it. Then, I take it off and pin up the rest, just measuring up evenly from the bottom. If I want to double check, I'll put it back on and look in the mirror again, but when I'm feeling lucky, I just sew. I can't remember having any crazy uneven hems with this method.

Does anyone else have any hemming tricks?

2 comments:

gail said...

hey! thanks for the answer. i hadn't thot of that. great answer. i have a simple black skirt that just needs hemming. yay, i'll have a new skirt =)

and yes, those memories are great, arent' they?

Anonymous said...

Yes I am reading and if I had known you had this all figured out I wouldn't have had to do all that measuring and pinning. I'm so proud of you. Love you, Mom