New fabric, old pattern

The last thing I need is more fabric, which, of course, doesn't keep me from buying more. Anyone who sews understands the difficulty, the near impossibility, of passing up something that is just perfect for a certain pattern, that will “go” with something else, or, in this particular case for me, has colors I like to wear. As you can see, it's sort of a stripe on a very fluid rayon. I was determined not to let it languish in my stash, so began the hunt for the perfect pattern.

  

One thing I have more of than fabric is patterns. Several years ago I organized them and, using a page layout program, made a pattern catalog. So now when I want to look through my own patterns, I don't have to actually go through my pattern boxes. Instead I simply scroll through the files on my computer. And, as I'm sure I've said before, I keep old, even old old patterns because of certain design elements that I can see looking completely contemporary on a new garment.

I remember making this 1970s Butterick pattern in a plaid gauze, much like the illustration on the envelope. I could see my new fabric made up in this because it's a simple silhouette, so undemanding on stripe matching. And I could cut the yoke with the stripes running horizontally and the body with the stripes vertical. Plus I liked its looseness for the fluid fabric.

Alas, I am no longer a size 8, but this was a very easy pattern to enlarge. On the yokes I added 5/8-inch to both top and bottom seams. I also scooped out the front neckline a bit more. Both these changes required drafting new facings which is basically just tracing the new neckline. On the body, I increased the side seams by 5/8” at the top, widening to 1¼ inches at the hem, keeping the same curve as the original pattern pieces. They were also intended to be cut on the bias but worked just as well with the lengthwise grain running up and down.

 

  

 
































I wish I could say that thanks to promptly sewing this, I did not add more fabric to my stash, but unfortunately, thinking I would have to do some stripe matching/maneuvering, I bought too much fabric for this simple top. Too much to relegate to the scrap box. So I give myself -1 for buying more fabric, +1 for promptly sewing it, +1 for reusing an old pattern, and -1 for having too much fabric left over. It's a draw. But I did get this very nice top out of it.