Hello, there, readers! Hope you’re enjoying the warm weather.

This week I sewed up a top which at first sight, looks utterly boring. But its so soft and comfy that let’s just say its feels as if you’re wearing your favorite comfort food. It has a baseball jersey look, as well as a pajama top look. But I’m throwing some accessories on it and going out to lunch.

The Pattern

 McCalls 7286, View A. It has a lace overlay on the sleeves but I went the opposite way and did not use the lace option. So, a basic became even more boring. Not that there was lack of lace in my stash; none of it seemed to “work”.  I thought of embroidering lacy motifs, but decided against it.

The fabric

Double sided rayon jersey in fawn and gray – I love that color combination.   The soft jersey is beautiful and a pleasure to wear; if you want some, head over to Sew Much Fabric where you’ll find other color combinations.  I’m not good at selecting flattering colors, so I’m not sure if this fawn/gray top is making me look washed out, or downright dead. But I keep on wearing it for the sheer comfort level.

Sewing tips

I may have shared these with you before, but here they are again:

• If a color-blocked seam has to be top stitched, I take the trouble to change the thread where one color ends and the other begins. See neckline seam below where “fawn” ends and “gray” begins.  My favorite way to end one color is to bring down stitch length to zero and take a couple of stitches. It’ll form a tiny knot in place and you won’t have to bring the threads to the back and tie them up. Just cut them closely where they are.

• The almighty template will assure a straight edge or a smooth curve as in the curved hem corners in view A.  My template was made by tracing the curved area on an old red manila folder and cutting it out. Heck, you could create a template for the entire hem.

• Pattern conundrum: Notches don’t match on the raglan seam on sleeve-back and bodice-back in view A. The guide sheet does not even mention the notches. So, after spending a few minutes with something that did not make sense, I put it down to pattern company error, not mine. I wonder how many beginning sewers were thrown off by this. They do match for views C and D, though, to redeem the pattern company somewhat.

More boring basics: At the time of writing, I’m using the same pattern but with godets and long sleeves in solid black knit. And, obsessing over possible embellishment.

Have a great summer, sewists!

Samina