Linen & Things

“Give up being perfect for being Authentic!”

~ Hal Elrod ~

I swear no quote spoke to my spirit this weekend in the way that this one did! Good morning sewing and fashion loves happy Monday Morning all! The past several months have been bonkers for me but this past weekend I settled into my studio with a purpose in mind and a goal set for myself. That Goal was to simply take my time and get at least one garment done from start to finish with quality inside and out! I’d say I absolutely did that this weekend. I mean I was totally in the creative zone and actually accomplished so much more than I planned to. There’s something about those creative juices flowing that will keep you grinding all day and before you know it the sun has come and gone. I not only completed this look but made a dent in two more that I plan to release later this week as well. The only thing I would change about this grind weekend is having to spruce myself up to take pictures! LOL

This weekend should have gone pretty smooth considering my original Fabric Box look was about ninety five percent complete. Unfortunately I could not escape the thought of this cute little strapless top that kept dancing around in my head. Trust me if you haven’t experienced the intensity of an idea that won’t let you rest until you try it, just keep on living as my grandmother would say. As a designer and creator there are times when I just throw caution to the wind and do exactly what my thoughts are dictating at that very moment. That’s not to say that I don’t always follow my design gut because I do but there are times when my original design just isn’t cutting it for me so a detour is necessary. That being said this weekend my plans for Friday went out the window when I decided to put the brakes on the original look and start fresh!

I immediately sketched out the idea that I couldn’t shake and decided to use a pattern instead of drape from scratch because of the way I wanted the bust/cup to be shaped. The fabulous part of it all is I remembered a McCalls pattern that I created last year that was similar and would definitely work with the few twists and turns I wanted to add. I will admit that I pulled back quite a bit from my original sketch once I pinned it to the dressform for adjustments. I decided in this case as with all others to let the fabric do the talking and not over design or complicate the chic simplicity of it all. For the Linen pants I picked those babies up from Zara’s a while ago for $20 what a steal right! For the bell bottoms I drafted this pair myself and the details on how to create a pair of your own using a pattern are on my Tutorial page. All and all I love it and it was definitely worth the little detour I had to take in order to get there. There’s just enough drama and sass to quench my designer thirst and I was able to get this baby completely finished in time for pics on Sunday! For pattern and fabric details check below loves and until next time have a fabulous rest of the week!

Hugs

Top Pattern: McCalls 7752 with a twist

To achieve the twist just cut out a couple of circles as you would for a circle skirt split it in half and create two half circles finish the edges, gather the top of the half circle and attach to the bodice before closing or adding the lining. The rest just follow the pattern instructions and you should be good.

Fabric Top: (August Nina Ramel Fabric Box)

Linen Pants Zara & Bell Bottom Pants MEEEE!

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