A few weeks ago I showed you a few of my makes from the new book from Kennis Wong Sew Beautiful: Make Stylish Handmade Clothing with Simple Stitch-and-Wear Patterns (Sew Beautiful to be brief). Since then, I have been busy making a few more items from that book. This is the Taktsang Dolman Wrap and it's paired with the wide leg version of the Fortuna Pants (blog about those will be on Sly Fox Fabrics on December 8, 2020).
I think this is my absolute favorite make from the Sew Beautiful Book to date.
The Taktsang Dolman Wrap is for woven fabrics. I was making a size 8 graded to a size 12 hip and needed between 2 3/4 and 2 7/8 yards of fabric if using 54" wide fabric. I didn't find anything in my stash that spoke to me, so I went to My Fabric Designs to find a design.
I knew that I wanted the Faux Linen Slub. I had previously purchased the Faux Linen Slub for another project and loved how luxurious it looked and felt. This base has a printable area that is 42" wide. I'm also short and knew I'd be taking a little bit of length out of the top and I was hoping to find an abstract design that was non directional so that I could maximize my fabric usage.
I decided on a design by LoriBorealis (she also goes by Keweenawchris) called Stormy Silk Scarf. I'm going to try to curate my wardrobe around the colors blue and green and add in pops of Yellow and Purple. I loved that this design had many beautiful shades of blue, with a bright royal blue featuring prominently. The design brings in many other colors and I especially love the golden yellow tones in it.
I love that My Fabric Designs allows the buyer to change the scale of the design. I liked the scale that the designer had set (It fits absolutely perfect on 1 yard of the cotton silk and silk crepe de chine), however as I visualized the pattern pieces on the yardage as displayed, I wanted there to be more opportunity for variety in the design across each piece. Therefore, I scaled down the design to where each quatrefoil element was approximately an inch.
I ordered 3 yards of the Faux Linen Slub and crossed my fingers that it was going to work. The website states that the Faux Linen Slub is 100% polyester, so I didn't think there would be much shrinkage, but they indicate it can shrink 2% in length and 4.5% in width. I did not think to check my fabric for shrinkage after washing. I did quite a bit of pattern tetris, but am happy to report that I got my Taktsang out of 3 yards with a little bit left to spare. In true 2020 fashion I will likely make masks with the remainder.
The Faux Linen Slub is not a tight weave with a 90 x 90 thread count. It does have a "flowing drape" as described my My Fabric Designs and I have to agree. It has a nice feel and texture to it that I really love. The fabric is considered a midweight at 4.84 ounces per square yard. This will make my Taktsang perfect to wear year round. The Faux Linen Slub is $18.50 per yard - I think that is a great price. You can take advantage of a 15% discount using the code SS15.
For these photos I wore a camisole under my Taktsang, but in cooler weather I think it would still look great over a long sleeve tee or turtle neck. Below is a photo of my entire outfit.
The Sew Beautiful book releases on December 8th. This is a great gift for a sewist or to yourself.
Patterns included in the book:
- Mornington Top & Dress
- Taktsang Dolman Wrap
- Prague Top & Dress
- Carlsbad Cardigan
- Fortuna Pants and Shorts
- Castlepoint Skirt
- Palermo Top & Dress
- Orosi Top & Dress
The book is available as a softcover book with printed patterns that are nested (tracing will be needed) and in a digital (ebook) version with the patterns available in A4, letter, and A0 versions for printing. The book is available at the retailers below.
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. These links provide me with a small compensation if you make a purchase using my link. There is not cost to you when you do this. My thoughts and opinions given in this blog post are mine.
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