Navy swallow shell top with narrow hem

I had a tiny piece (60cm x 112cm) of swallow print polyester fabric in my stash, picked up for £2.40 from the John Lewis remnant bin. I've been meaning to make this into a little shell top, and with my recent "diversion" to knit fabrics, I fancied a quick woven project in familiar territory. As someone who really enjoys learning new tips and skills, however, I took this opportunity to try out a new technique - using a narrow hem foot. 

I used New Look 6483, which I have used once previously for the Crazy about Coral top. Unfortunately the shoulders on that top was a little narrow in the end, resulting in a unsightly permanent line across the shoulder, and with the spirit outlined here, also resulted in it ending up in a charity shop. That doesn't stop the pattern from being a good one, though, and this time I made view E in the graded down 2 again. 

I shortened the pattern by quite a bit, to allow for the narrow hem as opposed to the 5/8 hem as called for by the pattern. the other thing I tweaked was to remove the centre back seam, the back button closure, and the side slits. I wanted a simple shell top, with minimal break in the fabric pattern.     

I explored to find the right balance of tension and stitch length for the delicate fabric with my new machine (which I'm yet to introduce to you, or give it a name, but it is a complete delight to work with and we are getting on very well indeed). And the result? Not a pucker in sight! 

As I had very limited fabric, I finished off the neckline and armholes with a Liberty lawn bias binding using this method, and omitted the facing. You probably know by now that this is my go-to method, but I just want to say again that it's wonderfully useful for delicate fabrics like this one. 

Here's this little number inside out. You know, I'm so tempted to wear it this way - I love the subtlety of the blue on this side, and of course the Liberty bias tape. 

Now the narrow hem foot. It took a little practice, but I'm liking the lovely wavy hem. I found this post really helpful when figuring out how to use this little gadget, but honestly if I can figure it out, so can anybody :)

I'm happy to add the narrow hem foot to my family of very useful and much treasured machine attachments. I've always been amazed by how these little attachments work wonders and how much of a difference it makes -- you may remember my first encounter with the overcasting foot (much used until I got my overlocker), my excitement over the gathering foot and the button sewing foot, and my recent discovery over the walking foot. If I had to pick a favourite, at this point in time I would say it's got to be the walking foot - it has transformed my sewing completely and lowered my blood pressure significantly (who knew that "top-layer creepage" was so easy to avoid!), and I constantly find myself reaching for it. The real question is, why did I choose to torture myself for so long before buying one? 

How about you? Do you have a favourite sewing foot for your machine that you wish you bought years ago? Or a recent discovery of a new gadget? 

Crazy about coral

Finally, spring has sprung, and I have gone a bit coral crazy. I bought some polka dot coral jeans, coral pumps, coral scarves, and a coral Kindle cover. Still, I had a feeling that something was missing... Then I remembered, I have a lovely jazzy viscose in my fabric stash from my local Fabricland, so it's time to turn it into a top to complete my outfit!

Obsessed much?!

It's a simple, basic top. Although the fabric is quite "busy" looking, I think it will be great teamed with plain jeans (I doubt I would wear the above outfit out... or perhaps with a jacket.)

I used New Look 6483, which claims to be a "1 hour easy" pattern. Erm... I don't remember signing up for the Great British Sewing Bee!! Speed-sewing is not my speciality, and let me tell you, it certainly took me over an hour of sewing time to knock this little number together. Just setting the sleeves in and finishing off the neckline would've taken me longer than a mere hour. Maybe I'm just inefficient though, and sew much more slowly than the average. 

The pattern runs from size 6 to 16. My experience of New Look patterns has been that they run a bit on the large size, so I scaled it down to a size 2 instead, and also took the side seams in by 1cm on each side. 

I made a view A, as I liked the simple design. I lowered the neckline though (by using a similar RTW top as a guide), as when I made up the top per the pattern, the finished neckline was choking me! Thankfully I used the single-fold self-fabric bias tape as a facing (rather than using the facing pattern) for the neckline, so it was easy enough to adjust. I also shortened the top by a couple of cms. 

The back has a button closure - it would've been functional if you followed the pattern, but now as I lowered the front and back neckline, I no longer need to undo the button to get the top over my head. Still, I think it is a nice touch. 

I was happy with what I ended up with. It's a fun, simple top which can be worn in a few different outfits. I was particularly happy with the pattern matching on the fabric. The side and back seams all line up nicely, and the pattern flows all the way round. I also really love viscose, especially as a light, summery and comfy fabric. 

And look, it must be that time of year again - my favourite tree in the garden is blossoming :)

Happy spring everyone (or happy autumn, if you are down under!) X