Vogue 9205 knit top and Happy St. Patrick's Day

It's just not possible for me to wear any color other than green on March 17. Of course it's St. Patricks's day and I do have plenty of things to choose from. One of my favorites is this skirt made for my green item in 2013. Or I could wear my green coat which was my most worn item this winter. But that's not very likely as it was in the mid 70˚'s today, so no coat required. A rummage around in my closet for a green t-shirt will be likely tomorrow as it's just about sandals and shorts weather. With my apologies to those of you still in the grip of winter.

The Irish family heritage goes deep - both my paternal grandparents were born on the west coast of Ireland and them emigrated to San Francisco. I've been fortunate to go to Ireland twice and would go again anytime - it is so beautiful, so much fun, and the food is fantastic (yes, really).

So this year's green outfit was finished a while ago, already worn and now relegated to the back of the closet until next fall when it will be more suitable. But it does highlight a pattern that turned out so well, I have already used it twice with very likely more to follow.

Also this fabric is a green/blue houndstooth and the green looks a lot greener in person - all these pictures make it seem more like an aqua/blue combo.



The pattern is Vogue 9205 which I included in my pattern whisperer post a few weeks ago.  While this pattern doesn't have a lot of variations other than the sleeve length it sewed together really well, the darts add some fitting and shaping across the front even though they are decorative darts not fitting darts. The pattern calls for a regular jersey type knit, and my fabric was not that at all!



I bought this fabric at a American Sewing Guild stash sale a few months ago, it was two yards/60" wide. And kind of weird. Basically I think it was a bit on the vintage side, with very little stretch even though it looked like a knit. So there is almost no give in it, and it's a good thing the top fits. But I can't say it is the most comfortable thing I have made.

Here's proof, my super awkward looking backyard timer photo. I just got a new camera and am trying to figure out the settings, work with the light etc. Starting with a houndstooth fabric is probably the worst idea - do you have this issue where checks like this look all wrong on the camera or computer screen?   Anyway - you can see I had enough fabric to make a skirt.



Which I did because it was there. And what else would it become other than just a remnant? And when I first got this fabric I thought about making a dress but then the idea of the top seemed more wearable.



A super simple elastic waist skirt, no pattern used. Which actually has a zipper in the center back since I had very little fabric so I made it pretty slim, plus I couldn't get it on without the zipper. You can see the inside of the fabric, it looks like a sweater knit on the inside. Just without the stretch of a nice knit




And a much better photo of me and Pauline at the Bay Area Sewist's Frocktails event last month. She is one of my many sewing muses - every time she posts something I want to sew it. I even bought similar fabric and the exact pattern to copy the version she did of a Vogue pattern.  Maybe I will get to it this summer.  In fact she and I buy a lot of the same Vogue and Burda patterns, and it is interesting to see how they look on different people (oh I wish I had some of her height :)  Note she is wearing Vogue 9227 which I sewed a while ago and plan to give to a friend of mine.



So that's the latest on my streak of success with Vogue patterns and news flash - more to follow!

I hope you have a great St. Patrick's day if that's something you celebrate, and perhaps think about all the generations and waves of immigrants that contributed to our country, and welcome those yet to come.

Happy Sewing, Beth

Here's a closer look at the tulips - every year I plant more bulbs in November and then instantly forget what color they were on the package. Which makes it a lovely colorful surprise!