Mocha-Style'.........style that flows: shirring

Up until now, I've never sewn anything from BWOF, I've actually been quite intimidated by the whole tracing aspect, and sewing without actual construction pictures, lol. Well, the July issue I must say was really my style'. I heard soo many reviews on PR, about the 2/09 issue, (which I am still hunting for, btw) I was sure I missed the better issues. Then, my mag arrived and I almost couldn't decide what I wanted to try first, so I kept it simple for my first try!

I picked this top, since it was one dot and considered pretty easy, and believe me it was! I decided to use one of the vibrant border fabrics from High Fashion Fabrics, it's very light-wt and cool. The instructions originally called for 10 rows of shirring, but I seriously needed like 15 more, in a addition to that! The top perimeter band, i decided to use a rolled hem, in a contrasting black instead of hemming. It seems to pop against the red. I also hemmed the bottom using a rolled hem to match the top.

I added about 4 extra inches to the length to show off the print. It's originally tunic length, but i rock this as a dress with leggings of course! Instead of using the zig-zag stitch across the elastic, i used the elastic thread in my bobbin for shirring which worked out better imo!

Overall, I really like this simple but cute top, It's been worn several times this summer, lol.
I've got even more, pieces out of this issue that i will be reviewing coming up soon.
Seeya!

Although I've been M.I.A for a while, I've still managed to find time to work on a few projects. I've always wanted to duplicate some of my favorite RTW pieces, in different colors, fabrics and better fit. Because of my height, some tops fall too short on me, and of course the inseam of some pants are short too. I decided to conquer a top first.

Here's the top I'm copying, nothing fancy but I really like it.

Now, I've had this top for,.... lets say many sizes ago, lol. It's nothing fancy but I love the smocking/shirring details on it, and I've held onto it for quite some time, with hopes to one day duplicate it.

Since I have some new pattern tools, (yeah) a much needed new cutting table, and a big roll of masking paper (from Lowes), I guess I'm ready!

Here's a pic of my pieces all cut out with fabric pinned. I actually started off by lying the top down on my paper, pinning it to the paper to keep it straight and tracing around. After I traced, I added length and width where I needed, then added in my allowances.

Around the neckline and below the breast is this shirred band so I used elastic thread, hand wounded onto my bobbin to recreate the look. The funny thing is, when I attempted this on my computerized machine, it would not work, it just made, well straight stitches. So I had to pull out my Singer machine to get shirring, lol. With a long stitch and contrasting thread in my needle, it worked perfectly!

I used my serger to roll the edges on the band, before I shirred it. I also used it through-out the construction which made completing it a little faster. Here's a close-up of the top after I finished it.