Green Fall Top!

Here's something I whipped up one afternoon recently:

The fabric was a seven-yard score from a thrift shop in Bloomington whilst visiting seester Elli.

There is no pattern, but now let's talk about how to make this shirt yourself, because it's just so easy. The pattern consists of two pieces, both rectangles. The first one is a rectangle that you cut as tall as the line from the bottom of your neck to your bust + 1 inch and as wide as your shoulder width plus about 8-10 inches, depending on how long you want your "sleeves" to be (spread your arms and hold a yardstick up to see where they will hit). I cut 3" rectangles off each side, sewed the trim on the bottom of the front (up a 1/2 inch to leave room for the seam), and then sewed the sleeves back on again so that the trim wouldn't go across the sleeves. Then you cut the hole for your head. The hole can be as narrow or as wide as you want, but it needs to be about 2-3 inches lower in the front than in the back to be comfortable.

The bottom rectangle piece is usually my hip measurement + 6-10 inches, again depending on how loose I want it to be. Here I wanted lots of pleats, so I made it pretty roomy.

Pleat and pin the bottom rectangles to the top rectangles, leaving 3" of the top hanging over on each side (this will become your sleeve). I did four pleats in front and five pleats in back. Then sew side seams and hem sleeves and bottom. I made bias tape for the neck which is so much easier than trying to fold under the neckline. Here's a great cushion tutorial which includes directions on how to make bias tape.

: : A Few Shop Announcements : :

Just wanted to let you know that I've been having a "Let's Get This Etsy Started" sale this week: wristlets have been marked down and so is shipping; go take a look!

"Put it all on the Line Clothespin Holder"

Also I've put a couple of clothespin holder in there too -- I know some of you were a wee bit angry when you didn't win the giveaway (blame the baby, he drew the name) so now you can have your very own. I realize that these are a bit out of season, but maybe it would be a good Christmas prezzie along with a pack of colorful clothespins? Plus I know you folks in Australia are just getting into the best of summertime; maybe I'll have a chance to try out International Shipping!