The inspiration for my latest sewn garments is this picture. I liked the combination of the crisp blue striped jacket and the floral print top. I had similar fabrics in my stash. A medium weight blue stripe cotton chambray fabric and a blue and white silk scarf print.
For the shawl collar jacket I considered a recent BurdaStyle magazine jacket and Kwik Sew 4223
I chose Kwik Sew thinking it would be the easier sew. In hind sight I would have been much more satisfied with the Burda pattern fit. I had forgotten how much ease Kwik Sew patterns have. My measurements put me in a Large size. I chose to make a size Medium based on the finished garments measurement for that size, which still had 3-4 " wearing ease over my measurements. The shoulder and back widths are also wider than other patterns I use. I reduced both of those areas which was easy enough to do by moving the armholes in about an inch on each side. I changed the front lapel, which was double breasted, to single breasted and adding elbow darts to shape the sleeves. To make the chambray fabric a bit more robust and reduce wrinkles, I underlined all the pieces with a white silk jacquard fabric. Another piece from the box of fabrics gifted to me by my aunt.
The fabric for the top was a "remnant" or "by the piece". I am a sucker for these types of bargains. Buyer beware. Below is the website description.
When the fabric arrived, the colors coordinated beautifully with my jacket fabric and the silk was a lovely weight. But the new guy must have been running the printing machine because this is what the print looked like.
The pattern and style of top I had planned to make required two full square scarf panels. Sigh! The project stalled until one day I was sitting in my car, at a very long red light, with a bag of "to be donated" sewing patterns on the passenger seat beside me. I grabbed a few off the top to confirm they were no longer need. One was Simplicity 2570.
I noticed the top was designed for wovens and had gathering at the center front, sort of like a scarf might be gathered if worn under a jacket. I decided to play around with the pattern pieces on my weirdly printed fabric. With some creative pattern layout I was able to get a top I liked.
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| Simplicity 2570 top in scarf print |
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| Simplicity 2570 top back in scarf print |
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| Kwik Sew 4223 jacket, Simplicity 2570 top |
