New Look 6378 - A Kimono shrug-gy top!

I've been busy this month! I think it's all this new energy I have since the doc put me on massive vitamin D supplements a couple weeks ago. Wowser. And I'm more relaxed as well. Even the lack of wind this morning didn't bother me. I really wanted to do this photo shoot in the wind, so I could look all flowy and wafty. However - barefoot is as close as I got. I'll take it...

There are so many loose, almost-a-shrug, kimono tops showing up in bloggerland this summer, and on style/fashion sites as well. OK, I had to make one. Of course I had to look at every pattern and finished garment I could find before I settled on the one I wanted to try first. I think that's part of the fun.

My thanks to everyone who's sewn one - I enjoyed your pics! I narrowed down my choices to six patterns...

In all honesty, they all started looking the same after a while. But I decided I wanted (1) an attached sleeve, which facilitates adjustments to the fit, (2) variations in the front hemline, curved, straight, and so on, and (2) some length options - I get tired of adding length to everything I make.

I love this pattern from New Look. I'm a big fan of their patterns in general. They come up with really on-trend designs, while keeping their basics and classics available. And their patterns are well-drafted, the instructions are excellent, and they're affordable. I generally order mine online from Pattern Review, Sewing Patterns or Simplicity.

I sewed View C, the mid-length style with a curved front edge, in size Medium. 

And I made zero changes to the pattern! In fact, I cut it straight from the tissue last night and sewed it this morning in just 2 hours. That's an absolute record for me. I was done by 8:30 and looking around for something else to do. I found something, but more on that later.

Actually, I'm pretty proud of myself. This fabric is polyester chiffon, purchased over 2 years ago at Walmart for a whopping $1/yard. I bought 6 yards but had no idea what I'd do with it. And it sat. Chiffon can be scary stuff - it looked just fine down there at the bottom of one of my fabric bins. But this pattern practically yells 'chiffon'. Out it came.

A few sewing notes:

Chiffon ravels if you simply look at it, but I decided not to use french seams. Instead, I finished all the edges on the serger with a very narrow rolled hem.

A sleeve ready to be attached

The serging - cutter and rolled edge - took up about 3/8" of the seam allowance. This worked great - I simply put the side of my foot against the edge, moved my needle all the way to the right, and sewed scant 1/4" seam allowances. Banking the presser foot against the edge really helped me keep things going in a straight line.

I also added a couple things to address the inherent flimsiness of the fabric:

• I flat-felled the shoulder seams, which adds some weight at the seam and keeps it up on my shoulder, 

• And I added a line of stay-stitching around the back neckline, to give it a little extra strength and guard against stretching in this area. 

From the left - front neckline, shoulder seam, and back neckline

I adore my Juki F600. It never skipped a beat and sewed the chiffon like it was built to sew chiffon. I used a walking foot and a size 70 needle, and I had no problems at all. No, I won't sew silk chiffon or charmeuse! in fact, I don't like to sew gauze. But I'll do this again.

And here's the top hanging from the light fixture in the foyer :-) so you can see the lines of the pattern.

A keeper. 

Now, that other thing I found to occupy my time: I upgraded my laptop to Windows 10. It took a little over 3 hours, during which I had visions of the thing crashing and never coming back...

Watched I am Legend  

Rolled a skein of yarn

It's done, I tweaked it a bit, and I really like it. It's not as elegant or as fast as my iMac, but it's definitely a big improvement for Windows.

Bye for now! Coco