Sibiu Top

Well, it certainly would appear things are feast or famine in terms of post on this old blog of mine.  It always seems to be the way.  You don't hear a peep from me for ages and then suddenly I'm here twice in as many weeks.  

I'm back here with some more sewing content and what do you know... it's to showcase another brand new Itch to Stitch* pattern that's just launched.  I haven't been doing as much testing lately because with everything going on I haven't felt I have the time or energy to give it the proper attention it deserves.  Every now and again though a design comes across my feed that I a) love the look of, b) have the fabric for, c) it doesn't look like it'll take me too long to sew up and d) I feel like I have the time and brain power for.

The Sibiu Top is one of those designs.  It's a simple design, but one that has a few options to make it really stand out.  I had some leftover fabric from, would you believe another Itch to Stitch test I did way back in 2015 - The Irena Top?  I have saved that red sweater knit for so long not knowing what to do with it.  As soon as I saw what the fabric requirements were I quickly ran down to the sewing room to see if I had enough and I had exactly what I needed!  (Now I'm wondering where on earth my Irena Top got to?  It's not in my closet, nor is it in my dresser drawer.  Huh.  I hope I didn't give it away at some point thinking I didn't fit it anymore.  Note to self:  You need to find your Irena!)  

Anyways - before I get too far away on my tangent let's just circle back to the Sibiu Top.  The only change I made to my size 18 was my standard 1 1/2" in length to the bodice.  However when I sewed up my top and tried it on I realized that I hadn't accounted for the amount of vertical stretch in my fabric being significantly more than the pattern called for.  I ended up taking a inch back off the bottom to bring the hem band up to the appropriate level. I love the short cuffed three quarter sleeves and the crew neckline, which is good because that was all my fabric would allow for! Top finished I decided immediately to make a second one.

For my second one I wanted to try some of the other options so this time I opted for the long cuffs and the cowl neckline.  I decided it was the perfect pattern for my latest Minerva Brand Ambassador project.  This gorgeous sparkly sweater knit was kindly gifted to me in exchange for a review that you can read over on the Minerva site under my profile!

For this one the stretch percentages are what are required by the pattern so I kept the 1 1/2" of length in the bodice and it's perfect for me.  No other changes were necessary at all.  This is such an easy top to fit given it's batwing style.

Of course I couldn't just stop with two of the views when I could make a third version!  For my third I decided to go a more casual route and make a jersey version.  I had a metre of Pointelle Jersey and a metre and a half of the Tangled Gardens from a previous custom round (unfortunately sold out by the looks of it) in bamboo jersey both bought from The Fabric Snob.  I did have to seam the centre back to make it work, as well as cut the cuffs and hem band on the lenghwise grain instead of the crosswise grain, but it was fine.  I could have been less stubborn and reversed my fabrics and had plenty to work with but I wanted just a pop of the floral in the solid.  As I said everything worked out fine, I just had to spend a bit of time figuring everything out - pattern placement tetris if you will.

I'm so happy with all three of my tops!  They're comfortable and cozy and yet another winner for my wardrobe.  You know it's a hit when I make three versions of a pattern within days.

If you'd like to get your own copy of the Sibiu Top pattern you can hop on over to the Itch to Stitch site and get it while it's on sale for the release week!

A Summer of Sewing with Minerva

 First can we acknowledge that summer just flew by?  It feels like only a few days ago I was shutting the lights off in the library on the last day of June and here we are, three weeks into August already.  I have one week left of summer before I head back into the school for what I truly hope will be a better year than last year.  

Instead of dwelling on that though, I thought I'd focus on happier things.  Like sewing.  I've done loads of sewing for summer this year!  (My sewing room shows it too.  OOOH boy!  It's a complete disaster zone down there.  I really, really have to clean it up one of these days.  But I digress!  Back to happy thoughts!  ha ha!)

As I've mentioned before in previous posts, I am part of the Minerva Brand Ambassador Team.  I have been a customer of theirs for a long time.  With their selection and customer service they are definitely a go to for me so I'm honoured to be part of their ambassador team and so very grateful for the fabric they send me to work with.  Over my time being an ambassador for them I've had the opportunity to use some absolutely beautiful fabrics and these last few months have been no exception.  So I thought I'd do a quick run down of my summer of sewing with fabric provided by Minerva!  (By the way, I have more in depth individual posts complete with links to the fabrics on each project over on the Minerva site under my profile that you can find by clicking here)

So let's get down to it shall we?  First up, from back in May, was my Sonia Estep Designs Mandy dress.  This was my second time using a SED pattern - the first was the Danielle Cardi which I made for my daughter for Christmas then made three more of for myself during the winter.  I was a little nervous making a more fitted garment from a pretty new to me designer, but forged ahead knowing a knit would be pretty forgiving.  Minerva provided a beautiful Art Gallery jersey print for this project and it was both amazing to sew with and to wear.  It's so soft and luxurious and I love how the only pop of colour is the pixelated butterflies on the pale lilac background!

My next project a few weeks later was a Sew Over It Sylvia Robe in a beautiful, crisp floral cotton lawn.  I liked that there was lots of colours I could pull from to pair with tops.  (In this photo I've paired it with a viscose Ashton Top - fabric is also from Minerva that I bought during a sale and of course my well worn Lander Shorts)

For my next project I used a stretch viscose in a floral linen look print.  I have worn this dress over and over since I snipped the final threads from my sewing machine.  I love absolutely everything about it.  For this one, I used the Helen's Closet Ashton top and added some gathered tiers and waist ties.  It's cool and swishy for the hottest of days and I literally live in it.  

Since one can simply not have enough "throw on and go" t-shirt dresses (or at least I think you can't anyway) my next project was from a favourite tried and true pattern.  This is the Sew Over It Heather dress of course and I believe this makes my fifth version of it.  Let me see... I have a quilted one that was my first, a t-shirt one I did, then my third one was a ponte one - you can see that one under my Minerva profile if you scroll back a ways - oh, and yes.  There was one in between that I still need to fix pockets on and hem that I wasn't sure I liked the fabric on so I abandoned it... I should dig that one out and finish it for winter!  And then yes.  Number five is this one!  I love it's sweet dragonfly and floral print!

Ooooh!  I really like this next project, although I haven't actually really worn it yet.  I'm planning on getting oodles of use out of it when I head back to work thought.  It's in a great border print chambray.  I'd never worked with a border print before so was a bit hesitant, but I love how it turned out!  I can't wait to wear this Itch to Stitch Recoleta Dress* in a touch cooler weather!

This next project was made using a new to me fabric and new to me pattern designer.  The fabric is an Art Gallery poplin and the pattern is the Paddington Top from the Peppermint Magazine, designed by French Navy Patterns.  I've never used a Peppermint Magazine free pattern before.  I know they're very popular - you can't swing a cat on social media without bumping into a photo of the wildly popular wide strap maxi dress they have, but I had never got around to trying one of their patterns out.  I was so impressed with the pattern and instructions for this top and the fabric, being Art Gallery, is absolutely top notch!  

My last project of my sewing for summer with Minerva is one that I have been wanting to make since last summer's Instagram "Caftans and Cocktails" challenge that I never got around to partaking in.  Partly because I couldn't find Charlie Caftan worthy fabric and partly because I was too intimidated by the centre front panel from reading too many blog posts that told me how terribly hard it was to do. (For anyone out there feeling overwhelmed and intimidated here's my take on it now that I've made the pattern. Don't let it put you off.  Mine may not be 100% perfect, but I'm here to reassure you that it's not as awful as everyone makes it out to be.  My only words of advice are to take it slowly, mark your sewing lines clearly and I found using pins to be helpful.  You can do it!!)  This bright orangey coral tropical rayon challis pretty much screams "swan about it a caftan" doesn't it?  I liked how it turned out so much I've got another one in the works as a very last minute summer sew - providing I get around to it that is! LOL)

So that's been my summer sewing with Minerva!  I'll be back soon (well, I'll try anyways - I always have the best of intentions to get my blog posts done and then I seem to not have enough hours in my day for all the things I want to get done).  I've got some more summer sewing I'm hoping to show you though before we're fully back in the swing of all things fall.