Colour Blocked Kimono Tee

The real reason that I made the blue kimono tee is to test the pattern out as a candidate pattern for this shirt.

This shirt all started when I was preparing to cut out my pink merino plantain. I laid out the pattern pieces and saw just how much left over fabric there would be if I just cut the one shirt out of the fabric. I tried seeing if I could get a shirt and a singlet out of the fabric, but failing piecing one of the pieces of the singlet it wouldn't fit. I had thought of adding a horizontal seam across the back of the singlet to make the pieces fit, and asked other's opinion on instagram, at which point the suggestion of colour blocking came up.

I did some searching, and with some moral support from Jen I decided to have a go at making a shirt like this one I found on a google image search:

I selected some grey merino jersey from my stash that didn't have any immediate plans as the other colour for the colour blocking.

I considered a few patterns for this, but settled on the kimono tee as the most promising prospect, but decided to first make a wearable muslin.

As mentioned in this post I extended the sleeves to just above the elbow, to similar to the inspiration pic. Following the wearable muslin I also took a wedge out of the centre front and centre back, about 1" wide at the top tapering to nothing at the hem. I also adjusted the angle of the hem on the sleeves slightly.

Then I altered my base pattern to cater for the colour blocking, splitting the front and back pattern pieces in two, by drawing a line starting about 1.5" to the edge of the neckline on the shoulder seam and ending at the centre front at the hem. I then added the seam allowance to these new pieces.

If I were to do this again I would start closer to the neckline and make the seamline continue across past the centre front.

This time around I finished the neckline with a narrow strip of the grey merino and it's a much nicer finish than the clear elastic I used on the blue one. (I used the 85% rule for the length of the strip)

Overall, it's not as similar to the inspiration pic as it could have been, I probably could have added more ease through the bust. However, it's very comfy to wear as pictured here with jeans, and also works tucked into a skirt, so overall I'm pretty happy with this experiment.

Pattern: Modified Maria Denmark Kimono Tee
Fabric: Merino Jersey from the Fabric Store
Notions: Thread

A Couple of Merino Plantains

I love my first plantain. I am still surprised how much I love the cut. Before making it I was expecting it to be too full around the hips and not flattering. However, if I cut a straight size despite my hip measurement falling in the next size up, it's not as full in the hips on me as drafted. It's just the right amount of hip skimming.

Since my first version has become one of those tops pulled first out of the pile after washing, I decided that some of the merino jersey in my stash should become plantains. Merino is perfect for the plantain pattern as it has beautiful drape to it. It's definitely suited more to drapey patterns than clingy ones.

The blue version is made from some merino we got for much cheaper than most of the merino. I don't know why it was cheaper, perhaps it was the previous seasons stock or something, as there's absolutely nothing wrong with it that I can tell. It's the merino I tried screen printing on for Darren, and is essentially my "muslin merino".

When cutting out the pink version I couldn't stand how much fabric was going to be left over so squeezed some other things onto the piece, so keep an eye out for those in coming weeks.

A few people have commented about the relevance of merino jersey in hot climates (with merino being wool). While yes, it's great to wear in cold weather, it's also great in hot weather. It absorbs moisture and is breathable; ideal! It really is a wonder fabric in my eyes! (I even took the blue version on my recent trip to the gold coast, and actually found it more refreshing to wear than the cotton/lycra tanks I wore on other days)

   

I still have a pile of merino jersey in my stash, so we shall yet see what it becomes, more plantains or something else?

Pattern: Deer and Doe Plantain
Fabric: Merino Jersey from the Fabric Store
Notions: Thread

On the hunt for the perfect fabric pouch...

Firstly, thanks to everyone that has filled in my little measurement form from my last post. If you haven't filled it in yet, please hop over to the post to get the details and link.

And onto the business of this post...

We potentially have some travel coming up, so I've been contemplating options for organising our things in a flexible and portable way. One obvious option is sewing up some fabric pouches for storing things in.

I quickly made up this Open Wide Zippered Pouch from the tutorial by noodlehead from fabrics etc from my stash to try out the style.

I quite like the pouch, as it has a square base so sits nicely on surfaces, and you could even line up a few in a drawer for example and when open they'd tesselate together quite well. I'm not sure if this size is the right size for my needs, but overall I like the pouch so far, I've found it quite useful for ferrying things various places.

Does anybody have any other zippered pouch patterns or tutorials they can recommend?
I would like to try out a few before settling on my favourite and making multiple.

Will you share your measurements with me?

Will you do me a quick favour?

I am hoping to collect some data on women's measurements, so I've created a quick form to collect this data. I am collecting four core measurements, along with another 5 optional ones. If you'd grab a tape measure and take a few minutes from your day to help me I would be incredibly grateful.

Even more good karma will be sent your way if you share around the link to other women you know.

Please click through here for the form.

Thanks in advance!