Ruby Sparkles
posted by jess
Spring Top Banner 2014
Well, Summer arrived the other day. And my hair said, “We’re thinking big.” I should have prepared myself, because when I posted this photo on IG, my hairdresser later texted me, “Wow Nice texture! I’m sure that will be a lot of fun throughout the humid season.” I’m strategically not letting you see the right-hand side of my head in these photos, because it has a different hairdo.
Whoops, I didn’t hijack Rae’s blog to talk about my hair though; I actually wanted to do some show and tell from my own Spring Top Sewing. I just finished my favorite Ruby to date, and I thought I’d share the mods I made.
I cut out the fabric for the top and didn’t change the length at all. You can hardly tell, but I put an elastic in the hem. I sewed the hem exactly as indicated in the pattern, but left a 1″ opening to thread a 1/4″ elastic through the entire hem. I held it in place with a safety pin to try it on, then sewed the elastic ends together before finishing off the hem. I have a couple of store-bought tops that have the really loose elastic in the hem, and I like how it gives the top a little bit more shape on me.
j ruby 2
Instead of sewing gathers in the back, I made a box pleat.
ruby back
I followed Rae’s yoke lining video tutorials, and used bias binding for the exposed portion of the armholes.
Instead of turning the bias binding to the outside of the garment like Rae did here, I sewed the bias tape to the outside of the armhole, then folded it all the way in before topstitching (Rae did that on this version).
j ruby 1
Finally, a word about the fabric. For the yoke, I used Kaffe Fasset Shot Cottons (colorway lipstick for the outer, and apricot for the lining). The main fabric for the top is a score from the covered Bazaar in Istanbul. There is some really gaudy stuff there, let me tell you. This print is less visually stimulating than a lot of what I saw there, believe it or not. It’s a simple black background with fuchsia, peach, and pink fireworks, upon which gold and pink roses have been superimposed. Then they glued on some sequin-like sparkles for good measure. Honestly, I don’t usually wear much in the way of shiny/sparkly, but I think the solid yoke contrast helps calm things down a bit, and this top is crazy comfy. I think I’ll be wearing this a lot!
Spring Top Sewalong 2014 is underway! Read more here; and add your photos to the Flickr Pool!