March 30, 2014

It's a kind of magic...

Pattern magic, that is.

I think this top will look familiar to those of you who know the third Pattern Magic book, Pattern Magic: Stretch Fabrics. It's based on the design on the cover: Straight lines and curves A.

Obviously, I didn't make it entirely as it's shown in the book. I used my own knit sloper and I really didn't think that the cropped design would be very practical in  wardrobe. 

This design is all about creating shapes in knit fabric by stretching some parts to others. In this case, you draw curvy lines on the top edges of the the front and back pattern pieces and sew them to a straight strip of fabric over the shoulder line which you stretch to fit the curves. 
The fabric I used is a navy coloured rib knit, I thought that would work well for the stretching.

It's a bit of a different look for me, with the prominent shoulders. On the other hand, it kind of reminds me of more regular puffy sleeve designs. Just different.
I originally made this top to go with my most recent pair of jeans but the proportions don't quite work with those. Fortunately, they will work with other things in my wardrobe.

It was nice to try another bit of Pattern Magic. This was actually a very simple trick which creates quite a dramatic result in a stretch fabric. The book also contains a Straight lines and curves B but I'm not such a fan of that design (a loose fitting top with bulges at the shoulder blades). However, I could try and come up with some variations of my own.

9 comments:

  1. This top is really elegant and avant garde. Lovely!

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  2. Oh my, that is both instantly recognizable and yet so much more interesting on a real person. Yours is a very elegant and wearable adaptation, I really like it.

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  3. Wow, yours looks better than the book cover.

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  4. I read that book,and thought it was very cool and artistic, but completely unwearable. You have made that top wearable while maintaining its coolness. I am totally impressed. You look beautiful in the outfit.

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  5. I'll tell you...everything you make is amazing! I love reading (looking) at your blog!

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  6. This top looks really, really good on you! I love the shape of the sleeves and the combination with the pencil skirt makes it very look very chic but still wearable.

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  7. I am fascinated by those pattern magic books, but have never really liked any of the designs. Your top, however, looks gorgeous and makes me want to get over my fear of knits and anything too "modern" looking!

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  8. Thanks for telling me about this Lauriana, I hadn't seen it before. You did a brilliant job! The sleeves are a little reminiscent of leg o'mutton sleeves, I think. Now I've realised I have missed doing pattern magic things; and I really want to get back to it :)

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