HP Joyful Top - again in ITY...

Yes, I'm being redundant! This post is fast on the heels of my last one, both featuring the Hot Patterns Joyful Top in ITY jersey.

I am a steadfast lover of ITY. I like the weight of the fabric, how well it sews with me, and I particularly like the way it just skims over lumps and bumps.

Other fabrics do this skimmy-shimmy thing, charmeuse comes to mind. But how hot is charmeuse! And finicky to sew.

I'll take ITY any time. Probably half of my dresses, at this moment, are ITY jersey.

And all of my extensive collection of Pattern Emporium Harem Pants and True Bias Hudson pants...I will admit to 8 pairs in the drawer. Speaking of which, ITY does not wrinkle - fold it up, roll it up, whatever. Great for travel...

So much for ITY.

I sewed this top right after I finished my pink floral version. I just adore this polka dotty print! It's from Fabric Mart, purchased some time last year. Like most fabrics from this retailer, it was here, then gone. I don't hesitate if I like something from Fabric Mart. I buy it - because it will soon disappear.

Unlike Fabric Fashions Club, where the selection drags on, year after year, the same thing...

Ummm, sorry FFC. I do buy on your site, but, could you please get some new ideas going...

Pants, True Bias Hudson Pants, ITY jersey from Fabric Mart

Back to this top. How cute. I wore this ensemble to a doctor's appointment yesterday, and was rewarded with lots of nice comments and looks. These pics were actually taken very quickly in the last 5 minutes I had, before going over to Cleveland Clinic.

As with my pink floral, last post, I cut this with a determined hi-low hem. And, more pics, this is such fun to wear...

You know, it's really hot here now, very humid and sticky. But this top is so easy to wear. I wouldn't spend the day in it out in the open, the park or Kennedy Space Center! But it's a perfect pairing for tooling around at my pace.

Parting shot:
Well, we're into the rainy season in south Florida. And some denizens of my garden think they would like to come inside out of the rain. Not! I very gently and generously place these little centipedes back outside. They're good for the soil, turning it over and fertilizing it as do the worms, and I think they prey on some insects that I definitely do not want hanging around...

Now, if he were an ant, it would be different. Home Defense Max to the max...

Ciao! Coco

Don't play with the possum...and a Hot Patterns Joyful Top

This little guy is the reason I took my pics inside this morning. What a surprise - I haven't seen a possum in my yard in probably 14 years. Weston is bordered on 3 sides by the Everglades and natural wetland preserves. So we do get visitors - deer, even an occasional black bear (strange to think of bears in such a hot climate, but Florida is full of them). Also snakes, alligators, iguanas, and, yes, possums.

A couple photos were about as brave as I felt. And he eventually trotted along to my neighbor's yard. I really hope he finds a more suitable home somewhere else. He was very thin, and I imagine he finds himself in a difficult environment. Unfortunately my neighbor puts out bread (bread! horrible choice) for the ducks, so perhaps he has been hanging out over there. 

On to sewing. I can hardly believe that I made this pattern for the first time way back in February of 2015. In fact I made two - one in black cotton jersey, and a second one in white cotton/rayon jersey. 

BTW, this was a free download from Hot Patterns, but it's not easy to find it now.  Here's a link I came across this morning, no idea how long they will make it available.

I've worn my tops so much! The black one is just barely hanging in. It's pretty faded, and it's more of a PJ top now. And  I recently spilled coffee on the white one, which is my favorite. Sigh. Problem is, the stain will NOT come out. I've tried 3 different ways - Oxi Clean, Grandma's Stain Remover, stain treatment stuff, everything short of bleach (which would probably eat the fabric or turn it yellow). Suggestions?

But all good reason enough to make a new one...

Pants - True Bias Hudson Pants, ITY jersey

The fabric - I love this rampant floral ITY knit, which I found on FabricsUniverse, a great little Etsy shop (not the 'fancy' fabric store in L.A). Originally I intended to use it for a maxi dress, to be worn to my grandson's Grandparents Day program. Well - I did sew it up, and, wow, I was totally drowned by the print. But it is perfect for a top, and the dress gave me ample yardage.

My first post on the Joyful Top has lots of info on the many many changes I made to the original pattern. And I carried those over to this version as well.

E.g., I added 2" to the front and back skirt (I'm 5'7"), lowered the back yoke by 1" (the back yoke on the original pattern is incredibly high), and added elbow length sleeves.

And I used self-fabric binding on the neckline, rather than a narrow hem.

The big change for this version is the hemline, which I changed to have a true hi-lo look. The original pattern appears to be hi-lo, but in reality the difference between the front and back hems is only 1".

On my previous versions, I evened out the hemline by lowering the front by 1". But here I've lowered the back by about 4".  Because I'm really smitten with hi-low hemlines this year.

ITY can be uncooperative when it comes to sewing details, and I've found that no two ITY fabrics are alike. IMHO, the trick is to start with lots of tests on scraps, on every machine that will be used, to get a feel for the fabric. Cuts down on frustration, wad, unwad, 'get out the ripper' time...

A couple sewing notes on this version:  My hems are very narrow, but they were pretty easy to do - I simply serged the edges and used 1/4" Steam-a-Seam to help me turn and stitch them.

I treated the sleeve hems a little differently, because they're right up there at eye-level - finish is important. I serged the edges, turned them up about 3/4", basted them in place, and finished with two rows of topstitching. No Steam-a-seam needed here.

No way was I going to try for a narrow hem on the flounce. I have my loony moments, but this was not one of them :-) Jersey doesn't run, so the flounce edges are unfinished.

This turned out to be a cute top. Pink is in, and I really enjoy wearing it.

Parting shot: Mr. Fish is now 2 weeks old. Gosh, he was so unwell when I brought him home (who wouldn't be, having lived in a little plastic cup at the pet store). He spent most of his time lying on a leaf, not eating much at all. But two days ago, he woke up in fine fiddle and is doing great now, swimming around and enjoying himself. He's very social - I just read that fish actually recognize faces. Cute boy...

It's almost the weekend, I hope yours is nice and enjoyable. Ciao! Coco

New Year and odd lots...

Oh, how I wish a bobbin could have fixed it! I was rear-ended just before Christmas...and I just got a call that my car is repaired and ready for me to pick it up.

I'm OK, the car not so much. I'm so sorry it was damaged - a car is never the same after it gets smacked.

Aggravation. The woman who hit me doesn't have insurance, so all the costs fall on me. Incredible. I am out about $1200 in insurance deductibles and 3 weeks of car rental. My insurance company is suing her, so I might get some of that back eventually.




On to more pleasant things. I almost got all my 2015 sewing on the blog before year end. But here are a couple more things!
 

Even though I wasn't thrilled with my muslin of the Grainline Studio Morris Blazer, I did sew it again, this time in rayon/nylon/spandex ponte. It's such a cute jacket, and I don't want to give up on it.

I think  it works well with things like the maxi skirt I'm wearing in the pics below. But - I haven't really worn it. Maybe because I'm in love with my Jalie Cocoon cardi's.

But I also think I'd like it better with long sleeves. I see another version in my future...

And here's something I made in August - the Hot Patterns Fast & Fabulous Shirt-Tail T. As with all HP patterns I've sewn, the real thing just doesn't look like the picture.

1- It's short and the hemline isn't really a shirt-tail at all.

2 - Check out the sleeve. It supposed to be cuffed, but it won't stay turned up! Impossible. I used a cotton/rayon jersey knit, which is one of the recommended fabrics.  I'm not going to stitch the cuff up, that would look weird and probably lose shape in the wash.

3- That's not a U-neck!

I added a couple inches to the sleeve and just wear it as a pajama top :-) And I don't plan to sew this again. There are so many other choices for cute tee's.

 

And now it's time for a Jungle January alert! Coming soon...

Ciao! Coco

Made a joyful Joyful Top from Hot Patterns...

How did Mr. Lizard get in the first pic? Handsome little guy...

I've spent 3 days finding the joy in the Hot Patterns Joyful Top. And I've got it!

A preface: I love Indie pattern makers. So many new ideas and designs. I can spot a Koos or Tilton or Comey from a far distance. But the Indie designers are so much more fun.

Not always easy - their concepts might not match up with their patterns. But I appreciate the concepts. Which leads me into the Hot Patterns Joyful Top. It's a free download from Trudy and Jeremy, right here in Florida (relocated from the UK). With a little plug for a lovely charity, what a great pattern.

I was drawn to the pattern because it's such a fresh look. And I've been searching for new ideas for spring and summer tops.

Love it!

Fabric: Lightweight cotton jersey, Holly Lobby  Shoes: Kork Ease buffalo leather sandals, Sundance

and the back...

I know it's black and hard to see - but here are pics of the front flounce and back gathers...

From concept to reality. When I laid out the pattern, which is a PDF, 32 pages taped together, I could see that things were not what I expected. The back is not 4 or so inches longer than the front. The flounce is not really very long.The back yoke is very narrow, side to side, and very very high on the back. 

I have to take a break here and bend at the waist with an acknowledgement to Emily at Fabric, Thread, Clothes? Her review and post on this top is the only one I've found! There are no pics on the Hot Patterns site of someone wearing this top. Emily's muslin confirmed what I was seeing in the pattern layout. Thank you, Emily!

I made a lot of changes to the pattern, so I've just shown them on a copy of the pattern layout.

Edited to add a tip: just remembered! when you tape the pattern together, just butt the paper edges to one another. They aren't meant to overlap. You have to 'imagine' the lines flowing across the edges. I found this tip on the Hot Patterns Facebook page...after pulling out my hair and reprinting the pattern a few hundred times.

 Such a cute top.

Other sewing notes:

• I sewed the size 12.

• My neckline is finished with a binding, rather than a narrow hem. 

• And I added sleeves. My right upper arm is bandaged, elbow to shoulder, due to my scleroderma, for 8 months now. Which is why you see so many garments with sleeves lately on my blog. I wear sleeveless around the house, but enjoy having things I can wear outside without a cardi! I used the sleeve from the Dixie DIY Ballet Dress, which worked really well. My change to the top pattern was a simple 1/2" extension of the outside shoulder with a little redrafting of the armscye.

So - I love my top. I'm sewing a white one tomorrow. I did put a lot of time into redrafting the pattern, but I enjoy this part of sewing. 

If you make one, you might consider widening and dropping the back yoke. And narrowing the flounce. I don't think this pattern would work well in woven cottons, but lightweight knit and chiffon, voile, mesh knits...yes.

Parting shot. The Easter bunny came by. Hope he comes back.

Ciao! Coco