Kwik Sew 2694/2900 -Remnant of a Remnant Top.

It feels good to be back on the bandwagon so to speak- selfishly sewing for me !
I have been doing some boring sewing - sheets, pillowcases and a swing seat roof cover.
This was very good for stashbusting but not so good for my sewing psyche.
However I did manage to use the OLDEST piece of fabric from my stash in doing so  - 2 and 1/2 metres of garbadine in exactly the same grey that primary school boys have their pants made of - see why it was in the stash for so long . When I got married I inherited this fabric from my new husband - see my husband came with a dowry - free fabric - how could I have not married him. Pity the fabric was ugly but beggars can not be choosers -lol. ( If you want to know I have been married 22 years and the fabric was at least 6 years old when I received it . )

So I have eventually gotten around to sewing the remnant knit from my daughters knit top( from my last post )  that in itself was a remnant from my eldest DD`s knit skirt !

My tatty Kwik Sew Pattern - 2694.

I used Kwik Sew 2694 but added in the long sleeves from Kwik Sew 2900 and also added a band around the front/back pieces . I choose KS 2694 because the front upper and lower bodice pieces are only small - perfectly  suited for my scraps. I only had enough fabric to cut one sleeve and the lower front  bodice and one upper front and the band . I really liked this fabric and was determined that I should get a garment out of it somehow ! A few weeks ago my Mum took me to Darn Cheap Fabrics in Heidelberg , Melbourne. I didn`t have my remnant material with me so I had to make a guess as to what would match  relying on my memory ( that can be dodgy sometimes ). I bought some dark teal mesh and although it doesn`t match perfectly I think it blends in quite well.

This pattern is very simple to sew - I made this top over the course of a week in about 6 easy sewing sessions including cutting out. I doubled the mesh where used for the back, one sleeve and one upper front - this eliminates the see -through factor and makes the top a bit more snuggly warm. Before sewing the garment I stitched the mesh together at the tops and bottoms of the pattern pieces and then just treated them as one piece of material.
I have previously sewn Kwik Sew 2694 twice before - the upper front is a bit revealing - I have to wear those tops with a camisole underneath . Adding the front band has eliminated this need. I simply cut out two long rectangles 5cm wide and sewed them together. Then this long rectangular piece is folded together - wrong sides together - and attached to the garment ( after you have sewn the upper fronts to the back ) right sides together. I then zigzagged the raw edge , ironed this and top stitched the band on the main garment pieces. Also as I was attaching the band I stretched this fabric slightly to snug up the front bodices.
I would highly recommend this pattern although it is getting pretty old now.

Now here is my ` happy` problem` - I used up all my remnant knit but in buying the  teal mesh I asked for 1 1/2 metres but the sales assistant was very generous and gave me what was left on the roll - over 3 metres ! So now I have a remnant of the teal mesh and now I will have to buy more fabric to use up this remnant ! I know - lucky these are the `problems` I face.

Hope everyone is happy and healthy. Cheers Janine.

Simplicity 4076 - Wild Horses ......and Mushrooms.

Wild Horses will not drag my daughter into modelling this top for my blog. Nor will love nor money. I have tried threats, bribes, cajoling and even down right begging.  I have ( eventually ) learnt not to bother asking anymore. Daffy is so much more obliging so she will be modelling again.

Last year my eldest DD came home from a day in the city saying she wanted to sew a maxi skirt. After I picked myself up off the floor and I showed her my only pattern for such a skirt - a lovely Issey Miyake design. We toddled off to Spotlight and my daughter found this lovely Sorrento dry knit . Usually when I visit Spotlight I only find kacky prints in garish colours . The maxi skirt was a fabric hog so there were large remnants which I wanted to sew into a top for myself. 

However in a fit of motherly madness I offered to make the remaining fabric into a top for my daughter and she said yes !

This is Simplicity 4076 , arguably the most reviewed pattern on Pattern Review. I have made this four times now but this is the first time making this view. I had been put off by reviewers saying the ease was excessive for the draped front but I did not find this at all. I changed the sleeves from the long bell shaped ones to tapered sleeves and also added little loops and buttons to the gathered side.

In the end there were remnants of the remnants - enough to make into partial top using some co-ordinating mesh to fill in the missing bits - I will try to sew this next . So I get to have my cake and eat it too. Talking about food  ....... I discovered the above ah , um unusual mushrooms on my daily doggy walk . I wonder if they are edible - perhaps I could make cream of mushroom soup ! I just thought I would add in that last photo for a laugh. Cheers Janine.