Thursday, March 13, 2014

Vacation Sewing

Very happy with my stripe matching
down the side!
I knew I'd have to get some in before we left.  I hadn't intended to, but the stash took over.

Actually, it started with the gray striped t-shirt (which is not coming on vacation - Barcelona is warmer than Philadelphia, but it's still not t-shirt weather).  I had made a top from that fabric years ago, and had a good bit left.  I wanted to use it up in one of my recycled t-shirt scarves, then I realized how much there was, and that I could make myself a shirt and then use up the leftovers.  So I did.  I did a little breath-holding when I bound the neckline against the stretch, afraid I would manage to stretch the shirt when I matched it with its non-stretchy binding, but it worked.  I wanted the stripes to run in a particular direction, and I wasn't planning on taking no for an answer.

The other two tops were deliberate vacation sewing.  Both the striped tee and the vertical striped top are from one of my favorite and most used patterns, KwikSew 3338.

I bought the black and silver striped fabric at a shopping expedition this summer with sewing friends Claudine and Andrea, and I almost left that remnant behind because I thought I would have to piece it to make it work.  I didn't realize at the time that it was a four-way stretch fabric, and therefore I could use the stripes running vertically instead.  Since there was a limited amount, only the front is striped; the rest of it is solid black.  The neckline is bound in black as well.

The last top is another version of Tessuti's boat-neck tee, except with a round neck, bound in black, and the sleeves in black.  Fabric limitations again: the lovely soft animal print didn't run to sleeves, and it's also relatively lightweight, so I was afraid it wouldn't work well in a tighter-fitting piece like a sleeve.

All these were accomplished one night last week when I was unable to sleep.  I went to bed at midnight, stayed there for an hour, trying very hard to sleep, and eventually gave up and went to the workroom and started cutting out tops.  They lingered on the table until yesterday, when I finally got around to threading the coverstitch machine to do all the hems.

So now I have a few new pieces to take with me on vacation.  I love knits; they pack small.  And I pack small, so we're perfect for each other.

Confession:  the reason all three of these tops are black/gray combinations is because I was too lazy to re-thread my machine, and I looked for fabrics that would work with my lazy thread choice.

3 comments:

badmomgoodmom said...

That's not laziness; that's efficiency! I do the same.

Rosie said...

Love the tops! Have fun in BCN! Enjoy the tapas and cava.!

SEWN said...

Great tops! Have fun!!!