It's been a bit since I actually sewed myself any clothing. It was actually back in May. How do I know this? That was the last time I posted a blog about any clothing I sewed and when I probably misplaced my camera remote. I bought a new one, but I don't like this one as the handheld part is HUGE! And it's harder to hide. The other was smaller and I could hide it in my palm.
But alas - I bring to you my newest addition to my wardrobe. This is the Janis Top by George + Ginger. This was my first time making the Janis Top and I did make a few modifications to it. It is intended to be a slouchy off the shoulder top. But I find my shoulders are very narrow and off the shoulder tops often end up way too far off the shoulder that I can expose more than just my shoulder.
I narrowed the neckline by 1.5 inches on the pattern for a total of 6 inches narrower without accounting for seam allowances. I then measured the neckline and made my neck band at 90%. This allows the top to sit as a very wide boatneck on me and since the fabric is stretchy, I can still pull it down off my shoulders or push the neckline to one side to expose a shoulder.
I did not remove length from the top for my height. I probably could have removed a bit of length from the sleeves as my sleeves are extremely gathered and it makes them a bit heavy. I did add a bottom band to the top instead of hemming. I was in no mood to pull out my coverstitch to hem my top. I made my band 4 inches tall unfolded and love being able to allow the top to create gathers around my waistline.
I used some super special fabric for my Janis Top. I bought this jersey knit from Mood when I went to New York City to meet Kristi (Designer Extraordinaire of G+G) and other online sewing friends when Kristi was participating in New York Fashion Week. Going to NY Fashion Week was something I had never thought I'd go to, but always thought it would be super cool to see in real life. I can honestly say that it did not disappoint. The shows were amazing and
Going to Mood was on my sewing bucket list. I'm happy I went to experience it and yes it is a lot like what you see on Project Runway. However, I have to admit I was a bit disappointed. The selection was not as immense as you would think. I found a lot of the knit fabrics to be a bit overpriced and lower quality than I would tend to buy. It took a lot of digging and pulling out rolls of fabric to find some gems. There were some unique items, but over all I was underwhelmed and only purchased one fabric. I found shopping in the Dallas Fabric District to be more enjoyable and friendlier to my wallet.
I bought just 1.5 yards of this knit and I really love it. They had this print in several different colors, but I was drawn to this one for the mix of blues, greens, purples, and brown. I felt it wasn't something I'd seen anywhere before. This fabric has sat on my shelf for many years now waiting for just the RIGHT project. Well, I'm here to say - Who knows what the RIGHT project is or if you will ever find it. I have realized the past year that I have hoarded too many fabrics because they felt special to me and that I was constantly saying I wouldn't use them until the RIGHT project came along. I'm going to do you a favor and tell you something I wish someone would have said to me. Just use the GOOD fabric. All that special fabric means nothing if it just sits on a shelf. I have found so much joy this past year using all those long hoarded fabric in my stash. When I decided to start quilting, I had given away almost all my quilting cottons except those that I held most dear and precious to me. So when I signed up for a pattern test I had no choice but to use those special fabrics. It was terrifying! But then I had a beautiful quilt to cherish and use. Then the next project came along and it got easier. Now I am surrounded by items I have made with all these fabrics that mean so much too me.
So do yourself a favor. Grab that special fabric and pick a project. Any project. Don't worry about it being the perfect project. Once you get started you will realize that it might just be the perfect project after all.
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