I've been wanting to move my blog away from Blogspot for a while but could never be bothered to actually do it. This week was the tipping point though, and I've now fully migrated over to https://patsypoomakes.wordpress.com/ . The blogspot address will remain here but all new posts will only appear at https://patsypoomakes.wordpress.com/ . There are lots of reasons for the move but my biggest one is how hard Blogger has made it for people to subscribe to receive new posts via email. It's such a basic requirement but apparently, they think it's too much to offer. I'm basing this purely on how I myself prefer to consume this stuff. I can't be arsed with feed readers anymore and emails are easy and convenient. When I receive one, if I fancy reading it, I will click through to it and, if not, I'll just delete it. Another reason is the spat between Google (owners of Blogger) and Instagram/Facebook/Meta. I don't even know if this is still the case anymore ...
When we were in Cambridge last year - not that one, the Massachusetts one! - we visited Harvard University, as you do. And it just so happens that the amazing gather here is just around the corner! I have to admit that the thought of visiting it had completely escaped me at the time, and it was sheer coincidence that I found the shop in Google maps while we were on the train to Cambridge.
It turned out to be one of the loveliest shops I've ever been to. I was complimented on the dress I was wearing by the 2 ladies in the shop and, among other things, this gorgeous turquoise Nani Iro double gauze came home with me.
It was originally intended to be a Stevie but, in my excitement, I only bought 1.5m and it is a narrow bolt. No Stevie for me. So I added it to the stash and there it stayed until a couple of weeks ago. I had no idea what to make with it!
I then decided an Ashton top would be perfect out of this; and a good project to take to the Sewing Weekender. So I got the fabric and was ready to start cutting it out when a light bulb went off in my head. 💡 "I wonder if I could get a sleeveless shirt out of this instead!"
As you can probably gather, I could. 😁 Ever since I saw this post by April I've been wanting to try a sleeveless Archer. It's no secret I'm a big fan of making shirts and the Archer is one of my favourites. This is my third version (first is here and second is here) and I don't think I'm ready to move on to another just yet.
I made the same size 4 as before but I did all the alterations that April outlined in her post. Exactly the same. Thanks for doing the legwork, April! 🤩 When I first started sewing, everything I read always said to not remove any more than 1.5cm from the shoulders and I've often thought that wasn't anywhere near enough in certain cases. So when I saw that April had taken so much off it and she didn't cause Armageddon, I was really keen to try.
I think I can probably shave off a little bit more of the front armscye and maybe bring the sides in a touch more as well. But overall I'm very pleased with how this turned out. I really like my plain placket, too. The spotty print didn't go all the way to the selvage so I cut the plackets out of the plain turquoise sections so the buttons wouldn't interfere with the print.
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| See? Armscye could definitely stand to come in a little more at the front. |
I have to admit that these photos are not showing anywhere near what the actual colour of the fabric is. It's much more vibrant and green than it's showing here. My camera obviously freaked out over it and the early evening light probably didn't help either.
The fabric is incredibly delicate! It's very light and airy. Comfortable to wear and great to sew and press. Such a shame that summer is on its way out... But there's always next year.
I didn't sew this at the Sewing Weekender in the end, but I started it there. I sewed one seam. That counts, right? 😄