Friday, April 13, 2012

Vogue 9771 in Missoni

Vogue 9771


This top is just one piece of evidence that proves I have a serious case of 'sewing related attention disorder'. I actually have 2 lovely nearly-finished-items (plus a few not-so-lovely) waiting patiently for just a wee bit of love and attention, yet my mind keeps wandering. First it wandered to a new bag pattern that my sister gave me for my birthday and then to this top. It has now started wandering to another bag pattern and a pair of denim trousers...but more on all that stuff another day.



Here we have Vogue 9771 View C. It's a simple sleeveless cowl-neck top. Although this pattern is designed for wovens, I made it up in a lovely Missoni knit. I actually won this fabric last year from Passiona at Le Coutureve. This is a lovely blog and she's a clever and creative seamstress. Unfortunately however, she hasn't posted for a very long time.  

Passiona actually used the same pattern to sew a simple straight skirt. Her's looks fabulous. Sadly, the same design would look less than fabulous on me. I'm far to lumpy and bumpy to pull off a fitted knit skirt. I need something a little more forgiving. Something to hide behind. The fabric she gave away was really rather small which presented a little bit of a challenge. I've been umming and ahhing over how best to use it for many many months. Last night, in a moment of spontaneous madness, I finally took to the fabric with a pair of scissors in one hand and Vogue 9771 in the other. 

Styled with Spanish apple-green wedges and new orange resin bangle. Thanks Emily for the bangle!

The main change I made to this pattern was to omit the cowl, neck and arm facings. I simply turned under each of the hems and stitched them down. I initially tried a few fancier, more complicated techniques, but this simple one gave me the best finish each time.  

I also removed 4 cm from the CB and CF. This was due to fabric restrictions mostly, but proved to give me a better fit. I also added 1.5 cm to the sideseams at my hips. Lastly, I did a square shoulder adjustment to reduce pooling at the neckline at the CB.


As you can see, I left the selvedge edge along the bottom of the top. It creates quite an interesting effect but does look a little sloppy as the threads are quite loose. When Carolyn made her dress up with the same winnings, she also left the raw edge along the hemline, but tidied it up with a bit of embroidery. Maybe I should give that a go (just have to learn how to embroider first!)


Unfortunately my photographer failed to mention, or even notice that my top was not lying flat at the back. Amateurs I tell you!

Overall, I'm feeling pretty chuffed with this outfit. Would you believe that a Missoni tank actually retails for $530? Craziness I tell you! Here's a break down of the cost of this little emsemble:

Missoni top - free!
Jag Jeans - $5 from opshop
Spanish wedges - $5 from opshop

Total = $10   Feeling = a million dollars!

14 comments:

  1. No wonder you feel like a million dollars - you look like it too! Great op, and excellent outfit.

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  2. Awesome! I still have my Missoni fabric that a 'friend' has put dibs on for her birthday present that I missed. I think this looks fab in a top and much easier to wear than a skirt.

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  3. Wow - $10????? I am in envy.
    Lovely top, it does look very wearable but also striking. I think any kind of hand stitching around the edges will work, no one is going to notice if it's perfectly neat all around or not.

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  4. Your moment of madness produced an awesome top and your op shop finds are pretty impressive too.

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  5. Your top looks absolutely lovely, and I really adore this colourway too. it is a small amount of fabric, isn't it? I used every scrap of mine, and I'm still selfconscious that my dress turned out extremely er, form-fitting shall we say?! I wonder if I should transform it into a cute top, like yours!

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  6. Great job - it's chic and cheap - my favourite combination.

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  7. I couldn't help notice the pop of colour under your jeans too. Love the top.

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  8. Definitely a million dollar look, a very clever use of the fabric. I love the shoes too.

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  9. It's wonderful! The colours are so bright and summery.

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  10. Wow, you are clever. It has come together wonderfully.

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  11. I love it! The simple design of the top shapes the wild missonni knit perfectly.

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  12. I love your new missoni top too, I agree with Karin the simple design perfectly matches the complex fabric. Wow $500 for a similar top - that is crazy- more money than sense I think.

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