Too many skirts, time for some shirts!

This blog has motivated me to do a lot of sewing and I've made some new skirts as a result. But what I'm finding now when I pull skirts out to wear to work is that I've already worn the top that matches the day before! Clearly I need more shirts to choose from, preferably that will match multiple skirts.

Black looks good with a lot of my cupboard and so does green, but I already have one each of these tops. I also don't want to wear black all the time, not enough colour!
One of my blue tops is brightly patterned, so it clashes with some of my equally bright skirts. It actually goes best with my orange skirt!
My other blue top is a darker shade of blue that doesn't match everything either.
I have a few blue skirts now, so more blue tops makes sense.
My white top is lace overlaid over black, so it's too much with some skirts. I need a white top, or at least one that is mostly cream.
I have nothing in pink or purple.

I have certain standards and looks that I impose on myself for work. Everyone's concept of 'corporate wear' is different and I believe in being comfortable and happy each day. Grey on grey is not part of my happiness!

I could buy more things, as a lot of fashion is cheap these days, but I dislike polyester fabric, as it is too hot in my area: why have a nice, cotton skirt on the bottom when your top is boiling? I also am more mindful of how many clothes we waste and what the costs of them are. Why would I make my own clothes, if I can buy a skirt and top from a generic store for a fraction of the cost? For me the answer is generally that the clothes I make will last me years longer than the cheap ones.

This book was an interesting read and has made me try to use my op shop-bag clothes in more ways before I think about donating them.

Back to the making of things.

The Spotlight store in my town has a permanent sale rack of fabric, which is fun to rummage through. I generally buy more than what I was looking for, but at the moment they have some great bargains: buy 3 metres or more, or the end of a roll, and you get another 50% off the sale price! 

These were some of my purchases:

Gold and cream cotton duck 

 (Cotton duck (from Dutch: doek, "linen canvas"), also simply duck, is a heavy, plain woven cotton fabric. Very sturdy. Doesn't crease as much as some of the lighter fabrics.) 
Purple Japanese-pattern cotton duck

Silver Dupion silk (way too nice to pass up!)

Woven blue Indonesian fabric (also cotton, beautifully light and feels nice against the skin)

Grey/yellow heavy cotton

As I share the hobby room with my husband, our sewing/gaming times often intersect. Sometimes I will just cut fabric out and pin things, so that it's quieter on my end of the room. As we also often listen to audio books or music together during this time, it feels more like couples time if we're able to talk freely ❤

All of these tops will be made from my homemade basic pattern: simple, sleeveless crop tops. I cut them out from a single paper piece, leaving plenty of seam allowance:

The back piece sits higher near my neck, and the front a bit lower. The front piece also has a dart either side for shape. I have experimented with different necklines, but it really works best if you have more pieces in the pattern.. which is also more work! I'll keep these ones simple instead.

I have a second crop top that has a crossover back. I cut a pattern off it and used it to cut the back of one of the tops.

Every edge that I can overlock to seal it, I will. I sometimes wish that I had two overlockers - one strung with white and the other with black thread, so that I didn't have to change them over! I usually need tweezers to accomplish it...

I hemmed all of the edges as well, to make it neater when I joined the three pieces together.

Then it was a matter of joining the seams together. This is the star top, all finished. Front:

Back:

You can't tell from the photos, but the darts that I put in the bust don't actually match up.. oops! My laziness, my fault. I will have to mark the fabric with a pencil next time, so that they match on either side.

I should be fairly well outfitted for work now 😊