summer cottage sewing

I seem to be spending a lot of time in my sewing room lately - working my way through stashed fabrics (as well as new stuff I've bought. Yes, I'm weak. so what?)

This is a new thing. Seriously, 5 minutes, start to finish. (The fabric comes pre smocked)

Buy one metre. (preferably during the Fabricland member's sale, so it was che-e-e-a-a-a-p-p!) Wash it to pre shrink, sew up the back, hem if necessary. (It wasn't in this case, but you could add 5 more minutes for hemming). This is going to the cottage as a bathing suit cover, or it could be worn with a little white jacket, but for me - probably the cottage. It's a batik print, black and white. Fabricland had about 12 other patterns, but they were all a little too seventies, bad acid trip for me.

I bought this border print back in the early spring - I loved it, and thought it was fresh and pretty. My firsts thought was a skirt, as that's what I always think when I see border prints. But once I washed it, and opened it up, the realization hit me. This was a double border print - i.e. the black bottom border was on both selvages, rather than just the one. So I only had about 22 inches to work with. This top fit the bill, as the front and back don't actually go all the way to the shoulders - it's a raglan type construction. So this allowed me to get the maximum depth out of the print. The neckline is just gathered with a black satin ribbon, and it's a very comfortable top to wear.

And with the leftover - I had enough to craft out a quick pair of shorts - perfect for the summer with a black t-shirt.