lara and i bought the challenge fabric together in late january. we were both very tempted by some beautiful bright coloured silks, but decided against buying them in the end as we both needed a bit of meterage for what we wanted to make and the cost was starting to add up. instead we chose a beautiful quality viscose with lovely drape.
i originally thought i would make the style arc olivia dress as i bought the pattern in a recent sale. Though the day after we bought the fabric i met up with crafty jane who generously loaned me the japanese pattern book 'clean and natural' and i really wanted to try out a pattern from the book.
i considered the peplum top on the front cover but in the end i decided to make 'G' the key neck pullover.
i have only used a japanese pattern book once before, when i recently made school shorts for my son. That book had english instructions, while 'clean and natural' is all japanese - a first for me! when i pulled out the pattern sheet to trace i was a little bit daunted, but once i located all the pattern pieces i was feeling pretty good!
when i found the general where abouts of each piece i put my tracing paper down and weights in the 'corners' of the pieces to help keep me on track with the tracing. in the end the tracing was quite easy. in terms of sizing i had decided to make size LL based on my measurements, but after tracing about 3 pattern pieces i noticed that it seemed to be one size 'fits all'. had i been able to read the instructions i may have worked this out before i started tracing! anyway i decided to push on as LL is the largest size so i figured the top would hopefully not end up too big.
i loved the challenge of looking at the pictures in the instructions and working it out. the construction was pretty straightforward and the pieces all went together perfectly, so it was a really good introduction for me to japanese ladies patterns.
i do feel a bit like i am wearing a tent, but the fabric drapes beautifully and its a nice breezy top to wear.
to take the photo below (well most of the photos really!) i had to carefully hold the key opening in place. i used a light weight interfacing to match the weight of the fabric, but the end result is quite floppy. if you are planning on making this top i would recommend giving a bit of consideration to the type of interfacing you use for the key hole facings.
one of the main disappointments for me with this pattern is the sleeve cuffs, mine do not look like the ones in the pattern photograph. mine sit on an angle and are not horizontal like the ones in the photo below.
i could fix the sleeves, but really i'm happy to move onto the next project. it may be something to bear in mind though if you want to make this pattern up. overall this will be a nice easy top to wear with shorts or jeans, so a great trans seasonal piece now autumn is just a few hours away!
now i'm very keen to check out lara's make. til next time,
emma
