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Thursday 12 August 2010

Rescuing wardrobe orphans and UFOs

Plain knit tops - never the most exciting sewing projects but without them I tend to end up with a wardrobe of printed skirts and tops and no actual outfits to wear.

So I put some brown jersey to use and made 2 simple knit tops to rescue this orphaned skirt (Burda June 2008-121). I could sort of get away with matching it with black (for 2 years!!) as the brown in the zebra stripe is pretty dark, but brown is much better.

Top 1 - Jalie 2804 Empire Crossover Top
I think it took almost as long to thread my serger as it did to make this. Excellent draft and instructions, I've already cut another one from the purple remnants of the Donna Karan dress.


Top 2 - Burda 07/2006 - 121
I chose this pattern because it uses only a small amount of fabric which is all I had left after top 1 and lining a ufo dress. I added an additional band at the neckline from scraps to make it a bit more wearable, otherwise it is almost off the shoulder.


While my serger was threaded up with brown I had a rummage in my stash to see what else I could make and found not 1 but 2 UFOs hiding in there.

UFO 1 Skirt
This knit fabric came from Gorgeous Things and I initially made it into a long sleeved dress, but there is something about fall/winter print dresses that just don't work on me (see previous LindsayT-christened Mrs Doubtfire dress!). I had kept the skirt part because I thought the pieces were big enough to do something with and I really liked the print.


A mere two years or so later I had the highly unoriginal idea of just making it into a skirt - side seams, hem and elastic in the waistband and voila - one fall skirt.


UFO 2 Dress
This was Butterick 4975, now out of print - probably started when maxi dresses first became fashionable and now finished seconds before they go out of style again!

Weirdly it's another Gorgeous Things knit fabric. This project was halted in its tracks because I didn't have enough fabric for the self lined bodice and then I got sidetracked. More about this dress in my next post.

27 comments:

  1. Wow, you've been busy! The new tops are lovely - I really must get around to making some nice plain tops like these ones. I LOVE your maxi - I'm hoping that maxi dresses never go out of style!

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  2. Gosh you have been busy! I love it all.

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  3. Great new garments, you have been so productive.

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  4. I love Burda 07/2006 - 121, it's one of my go-to T shirts. I looked close to see what you did with the band so I could make it a little more work-like. Great!

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  5. Wow, you have made some fantastic pieces. I love the fall skirt made from the dress!

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  6. Wow, what a feeling of accomplishment. I love the Doutfire-redux. Would the maxidress look good pretending to be a skirt with the brown jacket over it, too?

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  7. Nice work finishing up all those stragglers. I have a crapload of UFOs that need some work too - better get crackin'!!

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  8. Wow, must be a very liberating feeling to finish up UFOs. Well done!

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  9. Everything looks great! I need to do the same for my wardrobe...

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  10. Everything looks lovely (as usual)!

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  11. Busy! I have also been working on interesting but solid color tees for all my orphan pieces. Now I just have to make myself wear them...

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  12. Very nice basics! Yay for working on UFOs! Hehe... I need to get to work on all my ufo and "do something else with this" projects.

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  13. Awesome! I wish I could get as much done! LOVE the print of the dress, the skirt too. Great job! You've inspired me to get cracking on something new.

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  14. Great choice of tops. As soon as I hit "publish comment" I'm off to the Jalie site to take a closer look at that one. Skirt is fabulous, too, great UFO save, and I love the dress. I'm a big fan of maxis for at-home early morning and evening wear (am wearing one now, in fact).

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  15. Great UFO's, love the skirt fabric and the maxi dress.

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  16. Some good pieces there! Plain tops are great pieces to have.

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  17. Smart choices - they really make the other fabrics pop, and of course complete the ensemble!

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  18. No shame in plain sewing. I don't believe that you have ever made a garment I didn't like (even the Mrs Doubtfire dress I utter in a whispered voice!).

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  19. Wow, you've had a lot of quick wins with these projects. Very nice!

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  20. the dress is beautiful, I'm happy you went back and finished it off. Finishing UFOs can be so liberating

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  21. Didn't it feel good to add two more wonderful tops to the closet and to resolve the issue of two UFOs! Do you realize that you've almost added a week's worth of clothing to your wardrobe? Great job!

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  22. Nice post, Allison. All of the outfit look great. Love, love the maxi.

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  23. And now you have 4 fantastic new outfits! I can't decide what I like best - the 2nd brown top (I loooove open necklines like that), the brown skirt with the boots or the maxi dress. :)

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  24. "...but without them I tend to end up with a wardrobe of printed skirts and tops and no actual outfits to wear." I have this problem, too!

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  25. Love your productivity! Everything turned out really well, and the prints you salvaged from the UFOs are fantastic --- great to see them turn into wearable garments.

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  26. Stunning pieces. You have inspired me to do something good. Nice post

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  27. I've been enjoying your UFO series. These are gorgeous. It must be awesome to include them in your wardrobe rotation now.

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