Quicky projects

After two jackets, with work getting crazy and more than one labour intensive project-for-someone-else in the pipeline, I really felt I needed some quick, selfish bits of sewing just to keep my spirits up.

I also had this black knit which I bought on sale at the market for 0.50 euro a meter. And in my mind, nearly free fabric equals licence to experiment. These two quicky projects may not be my most exiting experiments by a long shot, but they were quick, they kind of fill a gap I had in my wardrobe and I would have hesitated to waste good, expensive fabric on them.

Oh, I know I'm using black again, but this stuff was cheap... And there will be plenty of colour this summer, I promise.

First, about a week ago, I made this top using the basic shape I created for the colour block top. This one has a normal shoulder seam and a wide, straight neckline at both front and back. Because I really didn't like the look of that, I made three horizontal pleats just below the neckline at center front. I like the resulting look a lot better. It's a nice top when it's worn tucked into a high waistband. I don't care for it worn over anything.

Secondly, I made an open-fronted shrug of about waistlength. In my wardrobe, that's a nice layering piece for 'in between' kind of weather. I used my slopers to make the pattern but if you wanted something similar, you could download Tanit-Isis's shrug pattern and cut away some of the front in a curved line from the neckline's shoulder point to the front waistline.

I made 'ribbing' at the sleeves and around the opening by simply cutting strips of the same fabric, folding them in half with wrong sides facing and serging them to the edges of the shrug (lengths: measurement in pattern minus 10% for the opening, wrist measurement plus 2 cm for the cuffs. widths: I cut 8 cm for the opening and 20 cm for the cuff)