Smoogie Fabric - Fly High Strike Off and Love Notions Lotus Blossom Blouse

Tiffany at Smoogie Fabrics has some really unique custom print knits. This is my first experience with her knits. Her base fabric is a 95% cotton/5% lycra spandex knit that is a heavier weight at 220 - 240 gsm. It is very soft and has excellent stretch and recovery.

Tiffany sent me her strike off of Fly High to sew. This print is currently available for preorder at www.smoogiefabric.com. Preorder pricing is $21/yard. Preorders close on August 30th.

The colors in the Fly HIgh print are beautiful and vibrant. I thought this would make me a great top to wear next month to the Plano Balloon Festival.

For my shirt, I decided to try the Lotus Blossom Blouse from Love Notions. This is a PDF pattern and comes in size XS to XXL. The pattern can be purchased at Love Notions or on Etsy. The pattern is $8.95. Here is the drawing from the pattern. I made some modification to the pattern that you will see in my finished blouse.

Here are all my pieces cut out. I did not have enough of the "Fly High" print to use for the entire blouse, so I did some colorblocking using Sea Swirl from Sew Cut Fabrics.

Since my fabric is printed on one side, I needed to piece the front piece so the pattern would show on both sides of the blouse. So that it would look like the photo below when wearing it.

So here is the front piece sewn together.

Next, I needed to piece my back together. In the photo below, I have sewn the top part to the bottom and placed the neck inset where it will go.

I then used my coverstitch to topstitch the bottom half onto the top half.

Next I sewed the neck inset piece.

I also topstitched it down with my cover stitch.

Now it was time to hem the bottom of the back. First I ironed down the seam allowance.

Then I hemmed it using my coverstitch.

Then realized I was supposed to leave the ends open. Hello seam ripper!

And apparently I was so flustered by the seam ripper that I forgot to take photos of the final steps. Next I sewed the front to the back at the shoulders and sides. Then I hemmed the neckline. The pattern called to sew the two front halves together for a section in the front creating a v-neck blouse. I decided I wanted to leave mine open and wear a camisole underneath it. This required me to straighten the neckline since it had a slight curve to it here the v neck would be. Then I hemmed it from the bottom of one side up the neckline, around the back inset, and down the opposing neckine to the bottom of the opposite side.

I'm very happy with how my top turned out. I made a camisole using a Vogue pattern to wear underneath.

Here I am in my Fly High Blouse.