I am metric, born and bred. I am okay with inches but yards? No way. I can't even remember whether a yard is longer than a metre or visa versa. Useless. I have to look it up every time ... so, as you can imagine, US patterns send me into a bit of a spin.
Apparently I needed 1 3/4 yards of 58" wide cotton jersey. Well, I got a bit bamboozled by the maths and ended up with 1.5 metres of 80 cm wide cotton jersey. That turns out to be almost half as wide as I need. Whoops! For the briefest of moments I thought about buying more ... nope, it's a bit pricey anyway. Maybe a sleeveless top? Nope. I resolved to make it work.
At first I thought I'd need a seam up the middle of my back, but after measuring the pattern pieces against a top I like the fit of, I decided to make it narrower, but longer, through the sleeves and body. A bit of fancy pinning, cutting and figuring out and I managed to get it out. All without a seam down the back. Yay!
Apparently I needed 1 3/4 yards of 58" wide cotton jersey. Well, I got a bit bamboozled by the maths and ended up with 1.5 metres of 80 cm wide cotton jersey. That turns out to be almost half as wide as I need. Whoops! For the briefest of moments I thought about buying more ... nope, it's a bit pricey anyway. Maybe a sleeveless top? Nope. I resolved to make it work.
At first I thought I'd need a seam up the middle of my back, but after measuring the pattern pieces against a top I like the fit of, I decided to make it narrower, but longer, through the sleeves and body. A bit of fancy pinning, cutting and figuring out and I managed to get it out. All without a seam down the back. Yay!
The band for the neck is a bit of a mash but hopefully no one will notice in the flesh. I cobbled it together from three strips of fabric. There's the usual seam at the back of the neck but I've had to include two more, on either side of the front. You can see one in this photo at the top.
The kids were at the movies when I whipped up this top and in my haste to get it done before they got home I made a little boo boo. You see, the other day I'd seen this great tutorial for putting on a neckband and wanted to try it out. Simple enough. What I forgot to take into account was that the band would make my scoop neck scoopier. In the Craftsy pattern I used to base my top on, the neck band folds up into the scoop, making it higher and narrower. Mine folds down, over the scoop so that it's sturdy and neat on both sides, but deeper and wider. When I realised, I had a little freak out, but after trying it on I decided that it was actually okay. It's probably slightly bigger than I'd ideally like, but I can't do anything about it now .... I've absolutely no fabric left ...
As you can see I'm almost done. Just the top stitching and hems to go. It will only take a minute to do, but in my hurry I also broke my twin needle ...
I guess there's a lesson for me in here somewhere ;)
The kids were at the movies when I whipped up this top and in my haste to get it done before they got home I made a little boo boo. You see, the other day I'd seen this great tutorial for putting on a neckband and wanted to try it out. Simple enough. What I forgot to take into account was that the band would make my scoop neck scoopier. In the Craftsy pattern I used to base my top on, the neck band folds up into the scoop, making it higher and narrower. Mine folds down, over the scoop so that it's sturdy and neat on both sides, but deeper and wider. When I realised, I had a little freak out, but after trying it on I decided that it was actually okay. It's probably slightly bigger than I'd ideally like, but I can't do anything about it now .... I've absolutely no fabric left ...
As you can see I'm almost done. Just the top stitching and hems to go. It will only take a minute to do, but in my hurry I also broke my twin needle ...
I guess there's a lesson for me in here somewhere ;)
Way to make it work! I think it looks really fantastic. That fabric is really hip and contemporary!
ReplyDeleteI love the fabric and shape of your top, it looks lovely!!
ReplyDeleteThe lesson is to have a spare needle of even the ones you don't use a lot like twin needles. I think your top will look grand when on and if you feel a little overexposed then pop a scarf on.
ReplyDeleteFancy pinning, indeed! Crafters are such clever people. ; )
ReplyDeleteWear a tank or a lace camisole under it. Very cute top!
ReplyDeleteWhatever the roadblocks, it's really pretty!
ReplyDeleteIt's a great top and will probably turn out to be a real favourite! The whole metric v imperial thing is just frankly weird as I grew up having to use both, this country can't make its mind up :) I was sure my kids would be completely metric, but no its still carried on!
ReplyDeleteYard is 3ft and a metre is 3ft 3 - that bit does at least stick :)
What absolutely fabulous material, I just love it. The scoop neck will look wonderful on you. Congratulations to work your way so successfully through your hiccups. That really is Kiwi ingenuity at its best :)
ReplyDeleteMoving to America and working as an engineer, I feel your pain, metric is the best IP is the worst! Daily I am bamboozled by inches and yards and Btu's blurg! The top looks great though, I'm glad you managed, in the words of Tim Gunn, to make it work. - Annie
ReplyDeleteI'm always impressed by your speed - if I had kids at cinema I might just manage to trace a pattern let alone actually get to sew anything. This is an ideal piece for clothing in layers as we are fond of in Ireland (due to constantly changiing weather !)
ReplyDeleteIt looks great, there is no way I am ready to try stretch yet. I am a metric girl too :-)
ReplyDeleteI think it looks lovely Libby - great fabric :-) Is it lined/double-thickness too? Looks like it is - very impressive.
ReplyDeleteThis is a fun, interesting fabric. As a non sewer, jersey looks hard to work with. And being an American, I only understand in & yd.
ReplyDeleteI told my mum about you, how you're making one outfit at a time. You are inspiring me to take sewing lessons from my mommy, but I told her I needed to start from the bottom, like rectangular mats.