Apparently All I Sew Is Tops Now...

Or so it seems.  After sewing my Coimbra Wrap Top*, I kept going on the tops theme for the rest of February!

There's a few patterns I've been wanting to make and I decided there was no better time than the in the thick of the winter doldrums to add them to my wardrobe.

First up was some fleece lined athletic knit Jackson Tees from Helen's Closet.  I purchased the fleece lined athletic from Water Tower Textiles because I had made a few "base" layers for my husband last winter and had some serious Jackson Tee envy going on.  He works in a food manufacturing plant so needs cozy warm layers for daily use at work.  We'd bought one shirt from Mark's last year and while it was great it was also hella expensive, so I had gone to work trying to source similar fabric to try and replicate the one he had.  I found the fleece lined athletic to be very comparable so this year I ordered some more to make him a couple more shirts to have in his rotation.  Then as I said I had envy so I ordered some colours I'd like too.  

The Jackson Tee is perfect for this kind of top and it's so quick to sew!! I did the long sleeve version (Obviously! LOL) and on mine I did the banded bottom and on his I did just a hem.

Next up is the Tilly and the Buttons Agnes Top.  I absolutely adore a good sleeve and Agnes has a great sleeve.  Just look at that "puff" (must be a throw back to my obsession with Anne of Green Gables when I was a kid.  I cannot resist a puffed sleeve!)  Not only is the sleeve a puff sleeve it has a great gathered detail on the side of the sleeve too.  Be still my sleeve loving heart.  Of course I'm sure everyone in the world already knows all about the TATB Agnes because it's been around quite some time now.  My only problem with my Agnes is it feels a bit more... ahem... form fitting then I'm used too.  But those sleeves.  Oh those sleeves.  They'll be what convinces me to wear it and love it even if it's a bit more slim fitting than I care for!  I sewed it up in a jersey that may have been from the Fabric Snob - I'm not sure though. It's been in the stash for a long time.

Then there's the Helen's Closet Dawson Top.  What is with me sewing slim fitting tops lately? Especially given, as I just mentioned, I'm not terribly comfortable in them.  But this is so darn soft.  The sweater knit was bought from Fabricland with Dawson in mind.  I was sort of envisioning the Dawson paired with a corduroy TATB Miette Skirt for a sort of 70s vibe.  But I've not yet found the right corduroy for my vision so maybe that'll happen down the road.

At the very beginning of March I continued on with the top trend and made another pattern that I've been wanting to get to for awhile now.  I am pretty sure I got the pattern for free at one point last year, but I see now on the website that it's $10.00, so maybe I'm misremembering.  Anyways, it's a cute variation on the standard tee with it's gathered sleeves.  I'm telling you I really can't resist a good sleeve! This is the Galaxy T-Shirt from Pattern Scissors Cloth.  I sewed it out of a very inexpensive end cut of jersey from Fabricland.  I love the colour but it's a wee bit on the thin side (it also wrinkles if you look at it sideways)  I'm thinking I might make a Cartagena Cami to go underneath it down the road.

And even though I told myself I shouldn't do any more test projects when school is in, all that went out the window as soon as Kennis posted her latest Itch to Stitch pattern test call.   I've already made two of them, but can't show you just yet as the pattern is still in the testing process.  I can't wait to show you though because it is going to be an awesome little wardrobe staple!

I have a few other projects in mind for this month.  The #sewfrugal challenge is on right now for 2023 and so I've been busily making plans with my stash fabric and some awesome free patterns.  But more on that at a later date! I'm also in the process of making a jumpsuit for my next Minerva project.  Right now though I've got get going and get some things done around the house...  apparently those dishes aren't going to do themselves.

The Reynolds Top

Here we are the middle of summer and it's finally a rainy day - we've had such a hot dry summer here in the prairies, so it's very welcome.  It also means that I have some time to sit down and write a blog post that I had actually intended to write at the beginning of July instead of August.  However, since I've left it so long, I now have another project to add in here. Procrastination at it's finest.  Ha ha!

One month ago today, I turned 50 years old.  Leading up to my birthday, I decided that a 50th birthday was an occasion that definitely was deserving of a special new dress, even if my plans for my birthday included nothing more than sticking around home for the day other than a short hike at our favourite spot to take our dog Jasper for an off leash walk.  

When Helen's Closet released the Reynolds Dress and Top pattern I snapped it up the minute it was released, printed it off and assembled the PDF the same day.  I had my fabric cut out by the next day. And my dress was sewn and hanging up waiting well in advance of my birthday.  It took quite a lot of restraint to not wear it before hand, but what is the point of a special birthday dress if you're not going to wait until your birthday to wear it?

I love this pattern so much!!  It's quick and easy to sew which is my favourite thing these days!  It's a simple design so it lets your fabric really shine as the star of the show.  As with all of the Helen's Closet patterns the instructions are well thought out and include all sorts of helpful tips throughout.  The attention to small details is there as well with mitred corners on the side slits of the dress and the option of doing flat felled seams.  I sewed up a straight size 18 D with absolutely no changes to the pattern at all.

I knew exactly what fabric I was going to use on it too, without any hesitation.  In fact, I had my fabric picked out of my stash from the minute Helen had said on the patreon podcast that she would be releasing it soon. I had my eye on this large scale floral linen at Fabricland for over a year!  When it came out, I fell in love with it, but it was just too expensive to justify buying.  Every time I saw it in the store I was tempted to buy it, but even when it was discounted it still wasn't justifiable.  Then earlier this spring I was wandering through the clearance section of the store just having a browse about and suddenly I spied the bolt of fabric marked down to 70%!  Hello!  That's a completely justifiable purchase in my books!  I couldn't believe my luck.  I bought it and tucked it away in my stash waiting for the perfect pattern to come along. 

I was thrilled with how my dress turned out!  The Reynolds is great to showcase the large scale print, and it's so comfortable to wear.   I wore it, as planned, all day.  I even swanned about Tourond Creek in my hikers and dress when we took Jasper for his walk that day.  It was quite a look, I'm sure.  Ha ha!

I kept thinking that a Reynolds Top would be a great addition to my wardrobe too.  I have a couple pairs of cropped Itch to Stitch Samara Pants* that I made a few summers ago.  One pair I pair with a modified Crystal Cove Cami as a faux jumpsuit, but the other pair I really have nothing to go with so they continually just sit in on the hanger unworn.  I had bought some linen last summer with the intention of making a Ashton top out of it, but never got around to it, and thought that it might work out nicely as a Reynolds, so I sewed it up on Monday morning in about an hour and a half.  (Had I not had to change serger thread, ran out of bobbin thread and broken a needle it would have been even quicker).  

The only difference from the pattern was that I lengthened it because I'm not one for wearing cropped tops at all.  Otherwise, like the dress, I made no modifications.  I'm really happy with how it turned out too.  Don't mind the wrinkles.  I ironed it, then sat down for a bit in it before taking the photos and well, it's linen.  You've just got to embrace the fact it wrinkles if you so much as look at it.  

While I'd made my top originally thinking solely of having something to wear with my purple and blue Samaras, I was pretty excited to realize that it would go with my other pair as well.  It's nice to have a different look for them than just my faux jumpsuit one! Win! Win!

Now I'm wondering how many Reynolds are too many Reynolds?  I have some more fabric that would be perfectly suited to a top and I've got some cotton that I'm thinking might be cute in a shorter version of the dress... decisions, decisions...