Sunday, June 10, 2012

African Sunset


Back with another finished project!  This time it's Simplicity 2372, which is one of those sportswear patterns that doesn't look all that interesting on first glance.  The ensemble on the model did not appeal, but I wanted to give the top a try, because I'm always looking for simple patterns for cotton tops to wear in the summer.  In cases like this, I immediately remove all the pattern pieces unrelated to what I'm sewing and mark the envelope accordingly.  The cats love to have a pile of tissue to romp around in!  You can also use the pattern tissue as, well, tissue paper for wrapping little gifts.


The fabric is an African print I bought at the thrift shop, two yards for four dollars.  I wasn't actually crazy about the print, because I kept thinking of it as either bows or wrapped candies,but cutting in the other direction mitigated that, and now I really like it! The state of the price tag tells me I prewashed this at some point.  It's especially important to prewash ethnic fabrics like this, because you never know what sort of dyes they used.  I usually dump in about a half cup of salt for the first wash, to set the dye. 


I am pretty pleased with the result! 
I lined things up pretty well in the front...


...and in the back!


 There was one flaw in the fabric, which I didn't notice until it ended up right in the front.


I wore the top, as is, and it didn't seem too noticeable, but just to make myself feel better, I zigzagged over it with some matching thread, just to help it blend in.


My only problem was figuring out how to wear it.  The darkest color in the print is actually navy blue, but I don't own any navy bottoms.  I tried it with black for the pictures, but that seemed too stark.  Finally, I ended up wearing it with brown pants and a brown, beaded necklace.  I thought that did a nice job of warming it up! 


31 comments:

Anonymous said...

Very good looking blouse. I can see where brown would do well what with the red and bright blue colors in the patterns.
That having only black pants which don't work is something I am always being faced with. I had two pairs of navy pants but I finally realized that they were too big. In fact one pair went with a very nice jacket- but, when I asked for help in making everything fit, the pros told me to give someone else the pleasure of wearing these clothes. They were all out of proportion for me.

Isn't it funny we know we need navy pants or what ever but we never think to get it until we need it right then to wear.

You have certainly been making some lovely things recently.

LindaC

Anonymous said...

Okay, take out that pattern again & make that dress!! You can shorten it to your liking but I think it would make a wonderful summer addition.
Mags

Sassy said...

Just been looking through your blog. Love your fabric choices!

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