wardrobe essentials 2016 - the Zsalya top

I have been meaning to show you my latest creation, a modified Zsalya top I finished at the end of June. I didn't get a chance to wear it until this week, would you believe it?

A perfect top for 'the heatwave'. I am rather pleased with this photo, it looks like I have lost half my body weight. I haven't but I must remember where and how I took this photo for future feel good moments. The tortoise pose I shall call it, chin forward and up, camera at a slight downward angle.

I made a Zsalya top previously and wrote about it here. Although I loved the top, it wasn't my favourite top. I think it is because it has a very prim neckline and the gathered sleeves, which remind me of the 1980s. I wore it during a sewing class and Cassandra from the Stitchery complimented me on it. This and my newly learned skills to adapt patterns encouraged me to have another look at the pattern. I decided to open up the neckline a little but leave the sleeves as they were because I had chosen a drapey and soft fabric, rather than a stiff quilting cotton that I had used for the first iteration.



The fabric, a cotton lawn, makes a bit of a chance to my usual choices I think. It is more girly than I am but I do like it rather a lot. Here's to my hidden feminine side! The fabric is soft and drapes really well. It actually feels rather luxurious. There was enough of it left to make a laptop sleeve.

The neckline of this new version is lower and feels more comfortable. I think if I made it any lower, the crossover wouldn't work, it has a slight tendency to gape open now. If you look closely, you can see this in the photo below. The only other change to the pattern I made is to lengthen it a bit at the bottom.

I like how the top is gathered in the front. The gather is repeated in the back, too but there is slightly less fabric. My sleeve setting technique improved a lot in the last year and I had no problems at all. I think the gather is not overbearing and adds to the girlyness of the top.





The sleeve has a nice detail which was a bit tricky to sew with the first version because the fabric didn't give much. This time, it was much easier and I really like it. The stitching btw is dead straight, even though it looks a bit wonky on the photo.



The instructions for the pattern are clear and easy to follow. There is a quick & dirty way to sew the yoke and a longer but ultimately neater way of doing so. I chose quick & dirty this time and to be honest, I can't see a difference between my two versions.

I am not sewing anything at the moment. I chose to knit during my holidays, a bag of knitting is so much more portable than a sewing machine and doesn't rely on power.  Since my return, I have focused on soap making and didn't have much time for sewing. Even my days lasts only 24 hours! I am planning to make a pair of shorts for our beach holiday in autumn. I don't own any shorts other than the jeans with cut off legs and I think it is about time that I tackle the trousers.

Wishing you a happy day with plenty of joyful moments xx