Peacock Washi

I'm back! How have you all been? Croatia was amazing, I spent most of the time I was away lying down with the theme tune of Game of Thrones in my head. It is stuck there forever now. We found a couple of spots that were definitely from the film in Dubrovnik's old town, which is absolutely beautiful. We were also very lucky to stay in an apartment outside of Dubrovnik on one of those resorts, with a swimming pool, and restaurants and the occasional dragon...

Seriously though, it was amazing to take some time out and have naps, and be in the sun. It's amazing how much sleep I want right now, but obviously that's not really a viable option when you're at work... unless I just crawl under the desk for half an hour. Not sure how well that would go down, I mean they're pretty understanding but even that pushes a boundary right?

I want to do a me made may catch up from the holiday, But I've got masses of sewing to catch you up on too so first I've got makes to show you. The top I'm going to talk about was made a couple of months ago now, from the same material as the dress that I made for the Peacock outfit from GBSB. Did I mention I got these back by the way? 

And my dress from the first episode fits!! It's a little long, but the bodice probably fits better than the Annas I've made for myself. The vintage blouse fits too, so exciting. I'm afraid the kilt doesn't quite fit Terence, the waist on my model was teeny tiny!

Ok so, distractions over... here's the top!

This is another Washi adaptation, as you can probably tell. I cut it off at the tunic length but found it was a little long, so shortened it by another inch or so. 

I added the button placket to the bodice, this was a very simple adaptation. I traced the bodice front, adding seam allowance, and two widths of placket to the centre front seam. I interfaced this central placket, and added buttons and buttonholes. I stitched the placket closed at the bottom, and added the... skirt(?) as usual. What do you call it when it isn't a skirt? 

This is what the bump looked like a couple of weeks ago, Spud's a little bigger now. I went to another appointment today, all is well in Spudsville. Except she/he keeps sneaking up by my ribs which is pretty uncomfortable, but well worth it for the dancing in my belly. 

I left out the shirring elastic, and added ties instead, I was hoping for more of a loose, comfortable fit and I definitely got what I was looking for. This is a comfy top, with plenty of room for bump in a lovely crisp cotton. I bound the neckline for an easy finish, and did my usual binding of the hem. 

In conclusion, I love this top! In fact I need to make another one. I've still got so much stash to get through and I think this would make a perfect use for some of my floatier fabrics. I'm trying to make sure I have some very breathable things for Summer. I have a feeling I'm going to get waaarm.

The Map Top as seen on GBSB

Hey hey,

There's been a short break in scheduling recently, due to epic work times. Last week we had a lot of work-related visitors, and above all the organisation, we also took them out for dinners two nights in a row so by the end of last week I was pretty wiped out.

Thank you so much for all of your lovely comments regarding my PGP. It is much better now, I just have to remember not to overdo it and ya know... make a shelf or anything. Which I may have done on Sunday... 'cause I'm a fool. Totally worth it for happy flowers in the yard though. With regards the PGP, I would highly recommend getting to a physio as soon as possible, it has really helped me.

So in sewing news! I've been promising for ages a blog post about the top that I wore for the first episode of GBSB. I actually got these pictures in Whitby when me and Mr T went over at Easter but again... life is hectic blah blah boring boring. Pretty pictures!

I actually made this top the night before my GBSB audition, I wanted something exciting to wear for it, and to try and prove to myself I could sew something quickly. I was still sewing well into the wee hours so I don't think the speedy sewing thing really paid off, but otherwise this was a total success!

The top is made from the Sorbetto free pattern from Colette patterns. This is a simple tank top shape, with bias bound hems and an outward facing pleat design down the front. However, as you can see on my version I messed with this pleat a little. I like to have lots of room around my hip/ belly area, so instead of stitching down the entire pleat I inverted it, and left the lower half unstitched and pleated. This has become very useful during the expanding belly bump phase as I still have room for me!

So how did I actually do this? Basically I pinned the two sides together according to the design lines, up to where I thought the pleat should finish. However, I folded the excess material to the inside rather than on the outside. 

I then tried it on (trying not to jab myself in the boob with a pin), and adjusted the pleat so that it finished just under my bust. 

I then stitched to this line, making sure to double back over my stitches so that they wouldn't come undone at the bottom of the pleat. Et voila! One open pleated Sorbetto, the rest of the construction is very simple, just adding the bias binding to edges. 

It' a great top for comfy weekend wear, and I will be taking it away to Croatia next week for my holidays! I'm so excited, I'm going to lie down, fall asleep, bake myself and Spud in the sun (and occasional rain) read masses of books and plan things I probably won't ever have time to do. It's gonna be flipping brill. Have a great week guys X