Upcycle a la "Antipast"

"Antipast" is one of several designers carried  by shop in Charleston, S. Carolina that also has a website. It is called Worthwhile.  I saw this top and fell in love with it. I can't seem to find a price for it but haven't found anything in their store under 395.00. We're talking 695-895.00 for skirts. I originally saw this on Pinterest and thought, "what a great recycle." While I still think it is nothing more than a recycle it is not being marketed as such.

   This top is basically a tee made from voile with a sweater cut apart and appliqued to the top. As I said I love the concept but the execution of a garment selling for over four hundred dollars is horrible. Check out the side vent:

 

So duly inspired I am attempting to make my own interpretation of this garment. I have a white crochet top that shrunk horrendously but I don't throw out anything handmade. It seems to have sort of felted because cutting it is like cutting iron and it doesn't seem to fall apart despite being cut. I was taking all sorts of precautions when I cut the first slice but quickly realized  I could just slice into it then stitch away. Here is how I started. 

First I picked my pattern. I decided to use my now TNT top pattern that I just made the pintucked damask top with, Simp 2192, a Cynthia Rowley design.  Once that was decided it was time to cut the crocheted top.  It was easy . This is a rough cut. It will be fine tuned later.

Here is the fabric I am using for the tee. I wanted a lot of texture in this. I also wanted something with the sheer factor fairly obvious. I decided on this 100% cotton batiste with some flowers on it.

I added center front and center back seams to my pattern. I liked seeing the seams between the sweater parts. The CB and CF seams and also the shoulder seams were put together with french seams. This fabric has been really nice to work with. Aren't all totally natural fibers?  The next thing to do before adding the sweater parts was to finish the neckline. At first I thought I might do the Kenneth King tiny hem and then over wrap it with perle cotton for more texture. Then I remembered I had a mess of entredeaux. So I finished the neckline with a simple traditional application of the entredeaux. I love entredeaux.

 I trimmed 3/8s of an inch off of the neckline seam, leaving me a 1/4 inch seam. I cut the entredeaux edges back to a quarter inch as well. Then I just placed right sides together, raw edges matching, and stitched right up to the entredeaux with my edge stitching foot. You can see the blade running right next to it. This was then pressed to the wrong side of the neckline and once again using the ES foot and 3 clicks to the left I topstitched the entredeaux on the right side.Then I removed the remaining batiste from the entredeaux.

Once this seaming and neckline were done I had a pallet to work with. I put the top on my dress form and played with placement of the sweater parts. I decided the best look would be to cut around some of the circular shapes of the sweater parts. I also wanted a good amount of batiste showing at the hemline. I started snipping and pinning till it fulfilled my vision. Right now I am in the process of hand sewing the sweater fronts to the fabric with size 80 cotton thread. It literally is invisible. So in this top so far I have french seams, entredeaux, and appliqueing with heirloom very fine size 80 thread. It will be different looking than the inspiration but I think will make a fun light summer top.

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Blogging and sewing have been sporadic. White shirt number two has been in a lump on my couch with a pile of buttons sitting on top. I just haven't gotten to it, but I will soon. My darling hubby is not doing well and his situation is worsening. He is not in a life threatening situation but is in extreme pain and other nasty things like total bed rest. We will leave northern NY this week for Beth Israel/Deaconess hospital in Boston and hopefully resolution and recovery. I am not sure when the next blogpost will be but will try my hardest to make it as soon as possible. Sewing and blogging connect me to the most wonderful people and give me the most satisfying feeling. It would be hard to give up anything that special. So, I will be back hopefully soon but probably not too predictably....Bunny

 

MCCalls 6076, Yasmine Inspired

Yasmine is an incredible designer who lives in Tibet. Nearly every garment she designs utilizes major surface design. I could own or enjoy making everything I see on her site. She has a white linen shirt that really caught my imagination. The picture is locked  but you can see the image here in the summer collection. I knew I could do these tucks but at this time of year I am not up to a white linen shirt. I have stash of shirtings and decided on a black and white, read gray, oxford cloth. Oxford cloth always has a white weft. The warp thread determines the color, or maybe I have that backwards. Because the weaving is so fine you end up seeing a third color, in this case, a soft grey.

 

For a pattern I decided on this McCalls 6076.  Like the original there are shoulder princess seams, but you can see the collar differs. I have an idea for that. I also like, as usual, the 3/4 sleeves, flattering to anybody. Cuffs bug the crapola out of me so you will see almost every top I make is 3/4 length.

I had to figure a few things out before planning out and stitching the tucks. I wasn't sure what color thread to use or even what type. Did I want to  try more rayon? And how would red look? I did my usual sample effort and decided on simple white thread for the tucks. I also had to experiment on how to work the tucks that were directly on the princess seam lines. They actually worked out beautifully just stitching down the center of the seam. Sometimes I am trying so hard to complicate things! You can see I used a double needle and a 5 groove pintuck foot.

The tucks are corded with pearl cotton.On my machine, a Pfaff, you can see there is a place to put your cord so it is perfectly lined up as the tuck stitches. I also have a "cording tongue, a tiny little thing that holds the tuck up nice and tall while you stitch. I always forget to use that! I use the double needle, tighten the tension bigtime, and use the pearl cotton and the tucks get dimension. You don't ever want a flat tuck. What's the point? 

So this afternoon I got the back bodice tucks done and now it will be on to the front. They are being stitched in the flat. Whenever I do princess seams I use one inch SA to have some room to fit. Another reason I did the samples was to figure out what the amount of takeup was on the tucks compared to the flat pattern. It was actually barely a 1/4 inch per section. So that with the wide SA caused me to do nothing else to accommodate for the tucked fabric. So far its looking pretty good. I will be shaping the hem as well, as in the designer original. Too bad I didn't think of this when PR ran the knockoff contest.

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Glad you all liked the wool bag. It was a VERY fun project. There will be more bags coming soon  as I get ready for the holidays. Once in a while I get a comment about my having so many bags. I don't. I have my few favorites but most are given away, either as gifts, thank yous, or for barter. So these are what I call figment bags, sewn for people who are only figments of my imagination at this point. Its rare I make a bag specific to the eventual owner, 'cept moi!...Bunny

More Poop on Piping!

Since smocking is finished, piping is the next step to deal with on Baby Girl Twin's peach colored bishop. I've canned the use of the wavy striped fabric for the piping that I posted yesterday. It was too high contrast on such a soft pastel. This is how I love to design, just comfortably evolving from a very specific concept. I have decided to use one of my favorite techniques, a wrapped or "whipped" piping. It will go around the neckline and a few inches above the hemline. I just love to accent deep hems on little girls dresses and this will have a softer effect and a more "designerly" approach than the original plan. Here is a link to a boys christening gown I made for Twin Baby Boy out of silk taffeta and whipped with blue floss on the piping.

This technique is pretty straightforward. You stitch your piping. Thread a darner with 6 strands of floss. Bring the needle up between two stitches. Bring the needle around to the back, wrapping the piping. Count down two or three stitches and come up again with the needle between two stitches. Be consistent, all two or all three stitches down the seam line as you wrap. When your piping is inserted into its seam you will be stitching right up close to the cord. Using your stitches as a ruler is a great tool to throw into the toolbox!
The only drawback to this technique is for piping a hem as I plan to do. It will take a lot of time to whip a long length of piping. But all good things come to those who wait .....and sew!