Crop & Tails to kick off 2013

About a year ago I made this top to test a sewing pattern. As it was only for a test, I used the lining from a kimono that I’d unpicked, which is why there is a seam down the front as well as the back: I had to join two lengths together to make a piece wide enough to cut out the body pieces.

The top sat around unfinished (I hadn’t neatened the sleeves or hem) under a pile of material and other projects until I was looking for something to do over the summer holidays and the inspiration fairy waved her wand in my direction. She said I should hem the sleeves, unpick the side seams up to the waist and trim each side of the front, as well as unpicking the centre front up to the waist. Then of course she told me to hem all the raw edges. So I did. You can’t argue with the inspiration fairy.  

After that I wandered all over the garden trying to find somewhere pretty but not too bright to take some “after” shots.

Have you ever tried to take detail shots of a white garment? The inspiration fairy had flown off by that stage without offering any photography advice, so I’m not sure if you can see how it turned out. Probably not… so here’s the less posed but more easy-to-see shot of my new tie-front top, without me in it and without any sun reflecting off it.

Ta-da! Now you can see it properly, I think you’ll agree it would be easy to recreate this using an oversize T-shirt – simply cut the front and back into shape and snip up the centre front. You don’t even have to hem any raw edges because T-shirt material doesn’t really fray. So this is the perfect project if one of your new year’s resolutions was to start doing some DIY!