Gemma’s Sagebrush Top
Gemma had the Mini box in January and used her viscose alongside a plain blue viscose/linen to make a Friday Pattern Company Sagebrush Top
One of the great things about receiving a subscription box is that it often pushes you to think outside of your comfort zone and explore creative options. Receiving the Mini Box this month was a welcome relief, as I am still recovering from my most involved and epic make yet from last month’s box (see my Hunter Coat on the blog) and was very much looking forward to something a little less involved and a lot simpler! As you only receive 1m of main fabric in the mini box, it’s a great way to explore how you can use your fabric the most, and I really love having to think up different ideas!
January’s box was a lovely floral patterned viscose, which I think is probably my favourite kind of fabric. It has such a nice drape to it, but is still heavy enough to hold its structure. Only having the one metre, I knew I would most likely have to combine it with another fabric if I wanted to make something more involved. I knew I wouldn’t be able to make bottoms with this amount, so having a browse through The Fold Line for different blouse patterns I came across the Sagebrush Top by Friday Pattern Company, and couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought of this pattern, especially as Laura had made one previously and was a fan!
The Sagebrush Top is an elegant looking, easy-to-sew blouse that is loose without being baggy. It has cute puff sleeves and gathers across the front as well as a prominent ruffle feature, and a tie at the back neckline. Definitely my kind of top pattern – lots of interesting features that can be adapted and look amazing dressed up or down, whilst still being an easy sew! It would also work well with colour blocking and using different prints/fabrics, so fit my brief perfectly! The size range is also really good, so a great inclusive, wardrobe staple pattern.
Because the viscose is quite a bold pattern, I wanted to match it with something plain, so it would contrast nicely. Searching for a matching viscose was a little tricky, but I found a matching viscose/linen blend in navy which I thought would work well, especially for the sleeves. Even though it is a little stiffer in comparison, I thought that would really help the sleeves hold the gathers and achieve a good pouf! Before sewing I actually played around with blocking ideas using the pattern line drawing, so I could work out which parts of the top would be in the patterned viscose fabric and which in the plain navy, which really helped to visualise how the top would look. I went with using the patterned fabric on most of the front and the main back, and used the plain for the sleeves, ruffle, back yoke and binding, as I thought this looked like a good balance between the two, as well as making very good use of the amount of fabric I had!
Sewing the top really was surprisingly simple – I thought the front ruffle would be quite fiddly but was actually a really easy attachment! The only downside (if I could call it that!) is gathering, which I’m not a fan of, but even in this top it was actually manageable and quite satisfying! It came together really quickly, even the binding, which finishes the neckline and extends to make your tie at the back. I’ve not used binding as much in sewing but I really like the way it looks so hope to try it some more. The elastic that came with the box also came in very handy for this make, as the sleeves end in an elasticated cuff, so this was a perfectly timed addition! I really like this sleeve feature, as I’m not a fan of sleeves getting in the way of things (hence why I usually choose to make my garments sleeveless if I can!) so this is a really nice and practical finish.
I’m really pleased with how this top came out! The two fabrics work so well together, and really compliment the different features to the design. Having to think outside the box really got the creative juices flowing, and I’m so pleased I had to, as I’ve created something I wouldn’t normally have made. The pattern itself I can tell is going to become a firm favourite, the different features come together to make such an interesting looking blouse and I will definitely be making some more – maybe even more mixed fabric/pattern ones!