Deer and Doe Datura

Hi everyone!

It was a rocky move, and most of my stuff is in limbo.  Luckily I ended up with a few projects still in close reach.

This one, however, makes me a bit sad.  I have a de facto stash because I have moved so much.  I spent the past nine months functionally homeless, and had a huge number of exciting projects lined up in New Zealand before I left.  This Datura blouse is one of those.  The fabric combo comes from The Fabric Store in Wellington, which I desperately miss.  The purple is a Marc Jacobs silk, probably a blend as it needed quite a hot iron.  The beige is rayon with the most delightful feel and drape.

The year I discovered sewing, I fell in love with projects every week.  I followed some blogs, and then I followed the people I discovered through following those blogs, in pyramid fashion (the sewing vortex!!!).  Every time I discovered a new thing I wanted to sew I spent weeks chasing down every version of it and reflecting on how mine would be.  This Datura was one that I was so so so excited about, and I feel embarrassed and sad that it's taken so long to make.  It could have been done in one day, but I was honestly so bored by it, that I took a few days, and treated it as a muslin, ie I didn't finish the side seams.

I used my trusty D&D size 38 and it fit perfectly.  I didn't topstitch or understitch the yoke, and I skipped the back panel altogether - just cut off the extra folds and sewed a centre back seam.  No sense bothering with buttons when they aren't functional.  I wanted this project to be brainless and it wasn't -- the technique for seamlessly lining the yoke was new to me and made me very grumpy.  I felt like the explanation was a bit confusing because I wasn't sure what part should be right side out and what part should be wrong side out when you slide the yoke front into the yoke back.  The diagram made it look like you topstitched it while it's inside out.  Eh??

Anyway, things worked out ok without too many lumps at the shoulders.  I also skipped the bias tape and made a foldover hem using the technique BHL use for the Polly top (my favourite technique!) Basically you make a line of stitching at the depth you want your hem, fold it in, iron it in place, and then fold one more time in and stitch that down.  On cotton, linen, or raw silk it usually works well.  On this rayon it was pretty terrible so I ironed it a whole lot and it looks ok if you don't look too close.

I suspect when I get over my initial grumpiness I will love this pattern and I'll start thinking up variations on it.  This tank is a great basic with just enough details to make it interesting.  My friend Joana took my pictures in Bern, and she was in love with this top, so she took lots of pictures!  I can see that it looks good but I am dissatisfied with how lumpy the yoke came out.  Probably the top stitching, and closer attention to alignment of the lining, would have helped with that.  Now that I see it from a distance I really like the look of it, and it was very comfortable to wear.