OUR MAKES-TPC15
TPC15
MADE WITH AN UP-CYCLED SKIRT AND A SCRAP OF DOUBLE WOOL CREPE
I'm on a mission to use up all my scraps before my chunks of fabric at the moment, and I'm definitely not allowed to buy anymore fabric until I've made a noticeable dent in the fabric stash. I've also been throwing away (donating to charity) a lot of my wardrobe lately and came across a skirt that I bought in the sale, a long time ago, and hadn't worn (swing tag still attached). I didn't want to give this away because I thought the fabric could be cool for something and, as it was a gathered skirt, was a good size. I haven't sewn anything for quite a few months and had a sudden urge to make this top for myself, and thought this skirt could be great if it could be turned into the top.
BEFORE
THE SKIRT
After a life times worth of unpicking, I steamed out the gathering and stitching indent from the patch pockets. The plan was to use this fabric for the main piece, the back bodice that is connected to the top sleeve. Unfortunately, the pattern was slightly longer than the fabric and the front and back were different lengths, so I patched a section together to accommodate for the missing length and positioned it so the seam isn't visible from the front (image 1 &2 below left).
For the rest of the top I found the perfect size piece of double wool crepe I had in my stash.
I didn't want to used the wool crepe for the cuff facing because I thought it would be too thick and bulky. So I shaped a piece of wide gross grain ribbon using the iron, a lot of steam and the pattern piece for the cuff facing as a guide to shape the ribbon to, shrinking the lower edge and stretching the top. I top stitched the edge of the ribbon on top of the cuff seam allowance and turned it up inside and pressed in place (image above right).
I've already worn this top four times in the first week since I made it, so clearly it's a winner for me.