FO: Simplicity 1693

Seeing as it was looking like spring had truly sprung here it seemed like it was a good time to start working on my warmer weather wardrobe in earnest.  The 2 t-shirts that I recently finished made a good start but I thought I'd go one better and make a sleeveless top in a floaty light fabric next.  Of course that was around about when the weather took a nosedive, so sorry about that England, this shitty weather is all my fault!  Seriously, it snowed yesterday I have no words.

Luckily this little top looks pretty good with a cardigan, is a perfect layering piece and so should get worn all year round.  The pattern, Simplicity 1693, is a one I picked up quite recently and had to sew up almost immediately.  I liked that it would be quick and simple to sew and I can see myself sewing up some of the other views fairly soon too.

I was a bit undecided on the collar for this version, I considered leaving it off but I thought that might be a little plain.  Then I thought maybe I'd make one in self fabric so it was just a subtle detail but in the end I figured I was making a top in orange fabric with floating lanterns on so I'd left subtlety at the door before I even started.  I'm really pleased with how it looks now, the contrast of the collar and ribbon detail works well, if I do say so myself.

Unfortunately the collar itself did give me a bit of a headache.  I dug out a scrap of black viscose I had leftover from a doomed project I recently abandoned and on inspection I decided it might be a bit heavy to work with the orange fabric.  So I ordered some black chiffon and got on with assembling the rest of the top while I waited for it to arrive.  To cut a long story short, the chiffon arrived, I cut it out, it shifted all over the place, my collar looked like I'd made it with my eyes closed and the viscose started to look like a good idea after all!  Other than that the construction of this top was really straightforward.  The neck and armholes are both finished with bias facings, I made some self bias tape which went round the armholes but it was a bit floppy and annoying so I used some black stuff I made ages ago to go around the neck.  The top is fastened with a loop and button at the back, but I can get it on and off without undoing it so I'll either just leave out the opening in future or stitch it shut at the top instead.

Despite thinking that I'd have been better off knitting myself a pair of mitts like my SILs rather than sewing this, I'm glad to have it in my wardrobe ready for when it warms up again.  I may make my next project a sweater though, rather than the summer dress I had my eye on!