Tops, tops & some thermal tops

My sewing has been pretty basic lately but good for the wardrobe. :)

Even though I have my sewing studio now, the renovation continues so I do find it difficult to concentrate on more time-consuming projects. My lighting has not been updated yet either (hopefully next week) so I hope when that is done it will motivate me to take on some more complicated projects.

First up, it has been cold here lately and I have been feeling it, so decided to use some thermal fabric I bought to make some thermal layers.

The fabric I used is from the Bamboo Store and is called Bamboo & Sorona Thermal.

The sorona is derived from corn and the fabric is lovely and silky smooth. It is very wide and from 1 metre I cut three things:

This Jalie 2564 camisole...

A long sleeved top (modified from Kwik sew 3740)


I used foe (fold over elastic) on the neckline and for those in Australia, I actually found this in Spotlight marked as 'lingerie elastic'. It is very similar to the foe I have bought from o/s. Not many colours available at Spotties, but I was happy to be able to source it locally.

This is a close-up of how I finished the foe. I attach it to one side first, with the fold (centre) of the foe lined up with the edge of the fabric with a zig-zag and then folded it to the front and used a triple stitch to attach this side.

The photo shows the bamboo/sorona fabric close-up as well.

I did not want to waste one piece of this lovely fabric and made a little beanie from the scraps...


Then I seemed to tackle some fabrics I wasn't sure how to handle, in terms of the print on the fabrics.

This one was purchased at Gorgeous Fabrics ages ago and I love it but had ordered it thinking I would make a dress and then decided it was too busy and the motif too large to work well in a dress for me. So I bit the bullet and cut out another Kwiksew 3740 being careful of motif placement and ended up with this pleasant little top.


This next fabric is also from GF and I loved the idea of it. It was described as a rich, metallic toned abstract print (rayon/lycra) and I loved the sound of it. It arrived and it is very shiny - dOH! it said metallic why was I surprised? The 'abstract' print turned out to more resemble really, really large flower motifs, so I also had to figure out how to place them on the garment.

I used the fantastic Burdastyle turtleneck pattern (again) 09-2010-121. This is the magic pattern and I think makes any fabric turn into a great top....

The colours in this fabric are great for my colouring and now I believe I will get a lot of wear out of this fabric. I didn't want to waste the scraps so used the last little bit to make a cami (from Jalie 2564 again). I think this little gold cami will work really well as a layering piece under those tops/dresses that need a cami...

And the next Turtleneck top (that's four all up!) was made with another great fabric from the Bamboo Store. It is a Bamboo/organic cotton/lycra blend and is divine. Now black fabric cannot be described as a difficult to use fabric but I made this top as I have an orphan RTW skirt in my wardrobe. This black top should coordinate well with it , so I am planning to put it into use by pairing it with the orphan skirt.

Black is probably not the best colour near my face but it will be worth it as I will get use out of the orphan skirt and I think it will be a versatile layering piece. I can also wear a scarf or whatever close to my face to detract from the black.

Well I still have more to show you - a different top (about time!), two new gym tops and a Stylearc skirt.

Ciao for now - more blogging when the photographer is available again...