Thursday, August 28, 2014

Tribute August: The Quirky Peach

Sewcialist: a person who enjoys sewing and uses social media to engage with others who also enjoy sewing

I discovered the Sewcialist website a few months ago, shortly after joining Instagram. I love the Firehose, which gives me a huge window into the world of sewists that I don't regularly follow. Every month, the Sewcialist blog sets a theme and gives us all a chance to participate in a great big kind-of-sewalong. This month it was Tribute August.

A while back, The Quirky Peach, aka Sally, blogged Simplicity 1463 and I absolutely fell in love. And not only did she make her own, but she hosted a giveaway for a lucky reader to win the pattern as well, because she's cool like that.

Image blatantly stolen from The Quirky Peach

Speeding along to enter the giveaway, it dawned on me that I already owned this pattern! Sally's version was so fantastic that I simply didn't connect the dots back to the pattern envelope. 


Unable to forget about her beautiful grey modal knit, I schemed away. I saw that Girl Charlee had two yards left of a knit that looked identical, and I snapped it up, fully intending to copy Sally. So I did!


One thing I could not copy was the beautiful lilacs in her photos, since that was 3 months ago. Will this patch of weeds wildflowers do instead?


Aaaaahhhh I love this top! In my Sewist's Notebook I titled it "Awesome Shirt" and it is! The fabric is incredible and I REALLY hope it holds up without pilling. The front of the shirt looks pretty basic (a good canvas for accessories) but then BAM!


I should have called this a mullet shirt, because it's all business in the front, and a definite party in the back. But you can still wear a regular bra! Hooray!


I made a size XXS in the bust, grading to an XS in the waist/hips. This was kind of a pain because those two sizes weren't nested together :/ Sally lengthened her top by 2" and I wish I would have done the same, but I didn't think to do it because she's way taller than me! It's not TOO short, I'd just prefer a little more length in the front.

Oh, and in case you didn't notice...I cut my hair! And when I say I cut my hair, I mean I cut it myself. Scary! I used the famous upside-down ponytail method that you'll find all over Pinterest. This is the shortest my hair has ever been, but I like it! It's also a good opportunity to grow my bangs back out (my husband hates them...which I knew before I cut bangs for myself!).

But anyway, back to the top! I did have some fit issues, which is weird for something so simple. After sewing it all up, I saw that there was some blousing going on at one side seam. Crappy in-progress-Shar-pei-photobombed shot:


It was only on this side, due to the way the back is asymmetrical. I imagine it had to do with my narrow shoulders and also just the way it's constructed. Since there is all kind of draping in the back, I thought it would be a simple fix to gather the back portion that was causing problems. I don't know how anyone else feels about it, but I like it!


I literally just gathered the fabric right there and tied it off. Done! I also used two short pieces of fabric in the back instead of longer pieces for ties. I knew that ties hanging off would bug me so this was an easy decision to make.

Whoa Farrah Fawcett...I promise the humidity  
was just making my hair act weird here.

Thank you Sally for being an inspiration for my favorite new top! If you've never been over to The Quriky Peach, then you definitely need to check it out! I mean, where else can you see an Anna with giraffes on it?!

10 comments:

  1. I love this top on you! I wonder if I have that pattern in my stash too..

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    1. It looks so boring from the envelope...who knew!

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  2. Mullet top made me laugh - I like how you did the back. :-D

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    1. Thank you! It's always nerve-wracking when you go "off the pattern" but I think it worked here.

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  3. Very cute! You could wear that top so many different ways.

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  4. Awesome!!!! I just love this top too! You're right, the front is perfect for accessorizing, which I can't say for most of my other makes ;) thanks so much for the tribute - I love this on you!

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    1. Thanks! Hehe, I have that problem too...WHOA PRINT y'know?!

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  5. This is really really lovely! Well done!
    Aless

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