As part of Christmas Clearance 2019 I bought this themed cotton print. It was most likely December 2020 or January 2021. Either way, it was packaged in 1 yard panels, and I figured that with 2 of them I could probably make a top. I didn’t know what top, but I could probably come up with a seasonal top worth making. December 2021 rolls around, and I’m fresh off my high of completing my <Halloween> dress in time for Halloween, so why not make it 2 for 2? So I start cutting my Christmas blouse out of this cute reprint pattern that I’ve had for several years, and had already traced. I get it all cut out and was really quite excited.
And then there was the cold snap…and I switched gears to finish the Pirate Petticoat. No regrets. I love that psychedelic masterpiece, but then all of the other holiday preparations kicked in, and I didn’t have time to work on my Christmas project. So now it’s January 2022, and I’m back on the Christmas project. It’s not even still the Christmas Season since 3 Kings Day has come and gone. But you know what? I’m going to be PREPARED for next Christmas!
I tried to stick pretty close to the pattern. I wanted to add an inch to the width of the front of the bodice, but the shaping is a little weird, and I was afraid that I wouldn’t be adding it evenly since the two front pieces aren’t symmetrical. So I’m going to let those be, and it might just be a little bit tight. The biggest change I made was to use 1 button instead of 2 at the back of the neck, but that was less of a design choice, and more of a let’s use up buttons that I have on hand and keep this a stash-buster rather than go buy more supplies.
The loop to attach the buttons was driving me up the wall though! It was just too small and refused to pull back through, so since I’d cut 2 when I only needed 1 because the fabric was already doubled, I decided to just use the second one and sew a visible seam. I’d already learned that a stitch in black thread was nearly invisible on this fabric anyway, so I just folded the loop in halves like bias tape and stitched it down. Unfortunately, at this juncture I discovered that the small silver shank button I had planned on using was too small for the loop, and was not going to work. The fabric strip was too wide, and it was just going to slip out. Fortunately I also had some plain red buttons that were a close enough match that I could use one of those for a button instead. I didn’t want to use the flat button because I thought it might be difficult to fasten at the nape of my neck, but the color was nice, and I could still control the tightness of the button when I attached it.
I’m still not sure whether or not I did the neck pleat correctly. I got halfway through the instructions and thought that it was supposed to be attached to the top of the neckband, but then when it came time for the top-stitching, it looked like it was actually attached to the top of the other neck pleat? Or maybe it was just drawn that way to emphasize that you weren’t supposed to top-stitch through the pleat? I’m not sure, but I ended up wasting about 2 hours undoing the neckband just to put it all back the way that I had it before because I think that the way that I had it initially was correct.
I jumped ahead to the last step and attached the button so that I wouldn’t lose it, but then I got stuck because the next thing I was supposed to do was insert the zipper, and I didn’t have one. I mean, of course I have a handful of zippers in my stash, but none of them are the right length for this project. Most are 8-10 in zippers meant for skirts, but that’s not long enough. I do have a 22 in bright red zipper that I could cut down, but that seems wasteful when I only need about 16in of zipper. So do I go shopping, or do I waste a third of a zipper? I decided to be a little wasteful. After all, it’s only a few inches, and it’s not like I can’t get another zipper. Besides, I don’t actually have a red dress in the queue, so I might as well use what I have.
I actually liked using the longer zipper, I was able to sew all the way to the notch without getting the awkward stitching lines around the zipper pull itself. Interesting. Unfortunately I ended up stitching too close to the zipper and had to pull out half of my stitching because the zipper couldn’t actually close. Ugh! More wasted time, but oh well. At least it was black thread on a red zipper so it was easy to see.
Once I got it done the pattern recommended stitching a square of fabric over the cut off end of the zipper to protect the skin from the cut edge, but failed to explain or even picture exactly how this was to be done, so I improvised as best as I could. It would have been easier if I had left a little more tail at the end of the zipper instead of cutting it off so short…oh well. Lesson for next time. And it will definitely be a lesson for next time because I think I may do this long zipper technique again in the future just so that I don’t have to sew around the zipper pull.
Next step was the cute center front petal detail. I cut out the edges like I was supposed to, but of course it didn’t lay perfectly flat. I saw that coming from a mile away. At least my under-stitching held and the corners are fairly rounded before I put the hem in. Then I attached the sleeves, and miraculously the second one went in without getting caught and require massive amounts of seam ripping.
Unfortunately the top is way too small. Like, I knew it was going to be tight, but with the side zip there’s no way that I can close this thing. So much for being prepared for next year. At least it’s done and it’s cute. I was afraid that the fabric would be too busy and wouldn’t show off the neck detail, but it still looks cute. Sadly I was so frustrated by the size issue that it took me almost 6 months to get the top photographed, and another 2 to get the blog done. Oh well.
Challenge: n/a Stash-busting
Material: Cotton (2 yards)
Pattern: Simplicity 1278
Year: 1950s
Notions: Thread, Zipper, Button
How historically accurate is it? n/a
Hours to Complete: 16:15
First Worn: Hopefully next Christmas!
Total Cost: Fabric (probably $4) + Zipper ($3) + Button (Free - replacement from a dress shirt) = $7
I’m experimenting with a new format for this blog. One of my design teachers said that we are greatly impacted by the content that we listen to and otherwise absorb while we create, so I’m going to start including information about what I’m listening to while I sew. It’ll give me a chance to highlight my latest audiobook reads. As much as I think that a project is designed before I start sewing, I’m still making some decisions while I go, so I wonder if I’ll notice any connection between what I sew and what I read. Or maybe each book will inspire what project I am most inclined to work on next?
First up is “Spinning Silver” by Naomi Novik. This gritty retelling of Rumpelstiltskin casts the titular character as the Jewish daughter of a moneylender living in Russia. The time-period is vaguely “the past;” if I knew more about Russian history I might be able to pinpoint a more specific date, but it seems to be more of a time in the past before modernity when there were still Tsars ruling over different principalities. The technology is still very much in the pre-industrial revolution era – people walk or travel in horse drawn sleighs and there might be printed books? But with the protagonist being a moneylender her books are primarily handwritten. There is magic in this world, mostly in the form of ice monsters known as the “Staryk” who covet gold and kill humans.
As other characters are introduced the POV changes between them. In the audiobook version there was no direct clue given as to which character was speaking. They had slightly different voices, but were all spoken by the same voice actor. I had to wait until they said something specific to be certain who was talking, and did not always realize that the POV had shifted. There might be a visual clue in the book that was missing from the audio version to help with this.
Overall, I really enjoyed the story. It was dark, but even for all of the Staryk magic it felt more realistic than most other fairy tales. The story was exceedingly brutal at times, and required people of all walks of life and faiths to work together. I wish that people really would work together like that more often. I wonder what problems we could solve!