Susan Sews a Sexy Striped Shirt

Black and White and Striped All Over

Do you have a period in your life when sewing was an adventure?  Or when you had more time? Or were able to sew quickly and all night long  if need be? My friend, Barbara in Nice ( that France bunky) were talking about how fabric stores actually  used to have fabric that was the same as depicted on the pattern envelope.

I was describing a dress that I made in the 60s. The dress was made of polished cotton and the bishop sleeves of voile in the same print.

“What are bishop sleeves?” she asked.

So I did some extremely taxing   research by typing bishop sleeves into Google. Many different variations popped up. And that is the taxing part. I had to weed through photos of medieval bishops, chess pieces, and finally some sleeves that I felt depicted a bishop sleeve to perfection.  But my favorite was this Stella McCartney top.

I know it is tiny, but it was on a Nieman Marcus store site and this is as big as I can make it.

I love this top. It has all the details that I like: deep v-neck, black, bishop sleeves.

“Barbara”, I said, “ I really like this top. I think that I shall make it, today!”

And I did make it , not quite that day, but that week.

I leafed through my Lutterloh  book  looking for a top that could be adapted to knock-off this Stella McCartney top.

And I found the this:

So you are thinking, but that does not have a v-neck!  Not a problem, I simply turned the high round neck into a v. I know how many inches deep I need to draw the v. The princess line and the loose, almost bishop sleeves are what attracted me. The fabric is a lovely ribbed knit in black and white and the solid black is a very lightweight knit,  alas too light weight to make the entire top.

The pattern called for a facing on the original neckline. And I did the same on the v neckline.

I do not like knit bands, not do I like the turn and stitch finish for knits. I like a facing. Facings have weight to keep any shape neckline in place. They are more finished. So I made a facing and then top stitched it one inch form the seam line. This keeps the facing lying flat, and is a more elegant finish.

Of the many things that I like about Lutterloh patterns is that they have beautiful darts, and many  silhouettes with princess seams.

Princess seams are most flattering to my hourglass shape. And when sewing knits, the princess line keeps them from looking baggy and shapeless.

What else can I say? I love this top, and will make more when the weather changes again. Next time I shall give the sleeve more of a bell shape, so it  blouses over the cuff. Right now it is summer sewing time. Soon it will be Summer Hell time, when all we wear is a wet bathing suit…if that!

Look at those curves!

You can see the elegant line of the V-neck that the top stitching makes.

The following photos were taken at my chiropractor’s office in Todos Santos. A few months ago he just had piles of sun-bleached bones. When I asked him what he was doing, he said that they were the bones of clients that didn’t pay! Well now he has entered his blue period, and painted them all sky blue. And he has created this wonderful dinosaur. These are cow bones gleaned from the beaches around Todos Santos. No tourists were injured during this process!

The cafe photos were also taken in Todos Santos at a new-to-us cafe. I love the wall painting, and am thinking this would look great in my bedroom.

   Peace and love from Jurassic Park: