Far Far Away Top by Rae
Here's my top for today, a tunic of my own design made with Far Far Away double gauze by Heather Ross. The main fabric has little tiny snails which are oh-so-cute and as you can see the orange fabric has unicorns on it. Some of you old-timers may remember that I made another top from the orange fabric last summer (blogged here). I really love these unicorns, what can I say?
I can't really say much more because Clementine's on a nap strike today so I have about 5 minutes to get this post up (don't worry, she's playing happily beside me on a blanket, not screaming in her crib or anything), but I do want to say that of the fabrics I've worked with so far this week (voile, knit, double gauze), this one is not my favorite. I don't hate it, it's just not my favorite.
When I first saw this line I almost died I loved it so much (and by the way Heather just announced Far Far Away II...gah!). The prints are just so adorable and lovely. And when I found out it was on double gauze I was even more excited. This seemed like something that would make breezy floaty lightweight garments. Well that is not exactly correct. Being two layers of gauze it's actually quite a bit more hearty than I expected and the fabric has a surprising amount of stand. On the other hand, it's not really stiff, it still moves around quite a bit when you sew on it. Those piped seams were a real bugger and had to be torn out a number of times. So while I still love this fabric I'm not sure I'll be making many more garments with it, at least not ones that are as complicated as this one was. So let's see, how should I describe this fabric? Beautiful, lovely, tricky. I'd still love to make a quilt out of it sometime, and you should definitely check out Ashley's Far Far Away Quilt over at Film in the Fridge (by the way, Ashley is one of our Spring Top Week judges). It's one of my favorites that she's made, although she makes so many amazing ones it's really hard to pick.
I'm still not completely sure of the proportions. I might lower the band at the bottom yet. And would this look better with orange bands on the sleeves? Shorter sleeves? Longer sleeves? I keep studying this trying to figure out if it's just the way I want it yet...another work in progress. OK, enough analyzing. Be sure to VOTE on today's best top if you haven't already!
UPDATED: Thanks for all the suggestions on modifications! It doesn't seem like there's a strong consensus but I love hearing your opinions. Sometimes I can be a little indecisive. I'd also like to give a couple of tips on sewing with this gauze: I found that two things really, really made things easier when working with this fabric: first, pin like crazy to hold things in place, and second, baste along any curved edges (like sleeves, armholes) before sewing. It seems like a pain at the time, but you'll be happy you did when it comes out nicely the FIRST time and you don't have to rip it out! Has anyone else made projects with double gauze? Post links if you have...I'd like to see them!
