The dream green top in the nightmare-ish fabric

I am not even going to make apologies for my prolonged absence from the blogosphere. Work is brutal, etc. etc. ad nauseam.

I did go on vacation! Our trip to Chile and Argentina had me scrambling last minute to find cute clothes that still fit– oh, did I mention I lost about 20 pounds? It’s nice until you realize none of the clothes you’ve made fit anymore!– so I whipped up this top from some fabric I had lying around.

The fabric was some mystery kelly green Thakoon stuff I grabbed a looooong time ago from Paron Fabrics in NYC. I am unsure of its composition fiber-wise, but I assume it’s got a whole lotta synthetic in it. I pre-washed it, which I never do (I’m terrible, but I mostly sew cotton) and I’m glad I did, because it shrank a lot after some time in the dryer.

The top was originally not meant to look anything like it turned out. I wanted a simple short sleeve shirt with scalloped neckline and sleeves, but when I put the shirt together, there was a lot of excess fabric in the center front and the whole thing looked seriously terrible. Normally, I’d scrap the whole thing and cry in a corner, but I decided to Make It Work somehow and came up with these pretty tuck detail in the center. I had never done tucks so it took me a while to measure them out, decide on the spacing, all that jazz. I am happy with the result but I wish I had spaced them a bit closer.

The sleeves were also a drab remedy, as they were originally way too big. I tried gathered sleeves but it didn’t work well with the fabric, so I went to my closet to draw some inspiration. In the end, it was a J. Crew dress with gorgeous pleated sleeves that won out, and I replicated the detail for my top.

This top got a lot of wear on my trip to Chile and Argentina. It was weather-appropriate, cute as hell, and went with everything. I am officially declaring kelly green a neutral!

Where things went wrong for this top: I stained it with some balsamic vinaigrette something-or-other 😦 Plus, when my boyfriend did the laundry, the top shrank even more!!??!? I thought that was the whole point of pre-washing before sewing!?!?!?!?

And so I am officially banning mystery composition fabrics from my sewing repertoire. Natural fibers are way more predictable for this girl. I fell in love with this top and now I can’t wear it. I’ll have to make it again in a pretty fabric, maybe some silk?