Birds: from tip to toe…

You have done it, you made me pull out that shifty chiffon, that has been lingering in my stash for nearly 2 years now! I have the perfect fabric/shoe match, so I couldn’t resist this months challenge.

I found this bird print chiffon on Ebay. Someone was de-stashing, I was starting my stash – perfect.
And I’m not sure how it happened anymore, but for some reason I came across these shoes that were covered in the exact same fabric. This couldn’t possibly be coincidence, I had to have them!

And thanks to this little challenge, I finally made a top to go with my shoes.
So here is my first contribution to The Monthly Stitch…

I made Simplicity New Look 6130, view B without the sleeves.

Does anyone else ask their partners for help choosing a pattern to sew?
Well, I tend to chose a pattern, and when I’m undecided about which view to sew, I often ask my husband. The result is generally the view that requires the least amount of fabric. Not sure what to think about that…
So view B it was, because he liked the split neckline (I do too), but without sleeves, because he didn’t like the puffiness. Anyway, since I had a limited amount of fabric, and don’t mind a sleeveless top, I ran with it, but I made the belt to go with it.

Since chiffon is a little sheer, I decided to underline it in a navy blue lining in the bodice, and navy satin in the peplum. I used the satin for the facings and the belt as well.
The layers of the peplum are only joined at the side and centre back seams. I made sure that the satin is a little shorter and finished it with the overlocker before assembling the top, and the chiffon layer was then hemmed separately.
I made the top a size smaller than the size chart would suggest. I find that Simplicity’s finished garment measurements are quite generous, so I downsized straightaway. But I still made a muslin, which showed some armhole gaping at the front, so I took it in at the princess seam.

There was one thing that bugged me about this pattern, and it was the fact, that the armholes are simply faced with a bias strip. I would have preferred a combined neckline & armhole facing, which would have eliminated the top stitching around the armholes, and given an overall neater looking result.

This was my first attempt at working with chiffon, and it’s definitely a little tricky. The result is wearable though, and cute.

PS: I nearly failed at posting again. I have tried for a couple of challenges, but my biggest stumbling block is getting the photos done. This just couldn’t happen again, so I took my little happy snap camera to the office (that I have currently to myself) and took some pictures there. Thank goodness for the self timer function…