Happy First Friday of the New Year!
I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and some relaxing time with friends and family. Did you make anything fun? I had fun making all the grandmas in the family nightgowns and pajamas, and of course matching family PJs for me and my boys!
I also made a fun and festive Fake It to wear to church on Christmas.
A few weeks ago I faked a red velvet Oscar de la Renta dress. You might remember I mentioned I had a stash of red and green velvet… so this week’s Fake It is all about using my green velvet stash!
I don’t need another velvet dress this year, so I’ve been searching for a different project for my deep green velvet. This Lafayette 148 New York top is just perfect!
I hacked the Simplicity 8602 pattern to make the project go a little faster than hand drafting a pattern myself.
I added length – three inches – to both the sleeve and the sleeve band to match the original garment.
Assembly was pretty easy. I serged all the edges. The hems and the neckline are simply the serged edge turned under and topstitched. I did not sew in a facing at the neckline, as the Simplicity pattern instructs, because I wanted to make sure the neckline remained soft and fluid.
To attach the bell sleeve bands, I first stitched a long gathering stitch around the top edge, then marked the quarters of the band with pins. I similarly marked the sleeve edge in quarters with pins. Then I lined up the edge of the sleeve to the gathered stitch of the band and matched the quarter pins. Finally, I pulled the gathering strings so that the band fit the sleeve and pinned in place. Once pinned, I turned it inside out and used the serged edge of the sleeve as my guide for stitching a narrow zigzag to attach the band to the sleeve.
Finally I added a simply hook and eye closure at the top of the back.
A quick and simple top that was elegant and festive for Christmas! (ALSO – When I wore this, I ended up tucking it into a pencil skirt, so it got all wrinkled – a simple steam got all the wrinkles out! Remember to never press velvet! Always steam instead.)
Happy Friday Friends! Happy sewing this weekend!
