Saturday, April 21, 2012

But can they sing too?

The Pure and Simple Gang
Having just finished my Coco jacket (post coming soon), I needed to make something fast and fun.

Louise Cutting's Pure and Simple Shell was perfect for the task. And A Fool For Fabric provided the needed inspiration with her gallery of Pure and Simple shells. I had to tweak a bit on the first one - size small through the shoulders, then slash and spread below - but it was mostly as advertised - Pure and Simple. Her instructions are such a delight to follow. 

From left to right, they are out of silk charmeuse, linen, 7 ounce denim, and quilt-weight cotton purchased by DSIL in Mozambique. With one obvious exception, the fabrics were easy to sew. I did make the first one too large. That is why the denim one has a seam down the middle. I took the first one apart, made the needed changes and recut it. That forced a center front seams, which by the way is another vertical line.

From the back
The one problem child is pictured below. It is silk charmeuse, a remnant from my Coco jacket project. I was reminded over and over again why it is that Kenneth King says he'd rather chew glass than sew with silk charmeuse. I tried every silk trick I knew and it was still a slow challenging process. The hem was the worst. I may go back and bind it the way I did the neck and armscyes though not soon. Like maybe never.



Don't they look a little like the linen Lennon sisters? For me, they sing. 


3 comments:

  1. great bunch of tops - I have just finished one Chanel inspired jacket and straight into the 2nd - I look forward to seeing yours (if this is what you mean by a Coco jacket).

    ReplyDelete
  2. These tops look really nice, even the slippery charmeuse one! My favorite is the linen one. The wide facings and patch at the back neck are nice details, and I love the color!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Beautiful tops, I have made a longer version.

    Your jacket is fabulous.

    ReplyDelete