At least once a month, possibly more often, I see a meme that declares sewing and buying fabric are two different hobbies.  It’s so true and that fact inspired today’s musings.

Whilst I have been busy sewing for myself and others, I haven’t felt in the mood to write about my makes.  One reason for this is that the weather in the UK has been fairly damp and dismal, which doesn’t make for great photos.  Another reason is that I’ve been making quite a few “tnts” (tried and tested patterns) which I’ve previously blogged about so, although I love the new makes, I don’t really have anything new to say about them.

This blog post is mainly about showing off a gorgeous and unusual fabric that I recently added to my stash.  When the lovely Sam (aka Purple Sewing Cloud) shared the treasure cave that is Razzberry Bazzar on her Instagram stories, I knew I had to have some of their fabric.  Sam bought some pre-quilted fabric but they also had this cotton which had strips of floral fabric ‘ribbons’ stitched in rows on a white background.  It was crying out to be made into a summer top.

The fabric is quite narrow at just over 1m wide so I bought 3m to ensure I had enough for a top.  This was a wise decision as I ended up with voluminous sleeves and ruffles so needed the length.  I have some left over which will either be used for children’s clothes or another top for myself.

The fabric handled really well but I did have to tame the ribbons in a few strategic places.   The strips are in place with a running stitch through the middle of each ribbon.  Where the ruffle meets the yoke, the top of the ribbon was curling down.  I knew that as soon as I washed the top, this would never iron back into place so I ran a line of top-stitching (#topstitchingappreciationsociety) along the top of the ribbon to make it behave.

It had to be the Sagebrush

I had a few pattern options and took quite a while to decide.  I definitely wanted something that showed off the fabric in all its glory.  Something that was quite simple and could take a cotton, and something suitable for summer.

The Sagebrush ticked all of these boxes for me, as well as being something that I wear a lot all year round and have several versions of.

I kept previous sizing and adjustment details and made this top over a few weekends.

Can we all please take a moment to appreciate how crisp and pristine a “fresh off the machine” Sagebrush ruffle is?  Once it’s been washed and worn once, it never goes back to looking like this.

I cut all pieces on the flat and made sure I matched the back yoke pieces.  The process reminded me for the umpteenth time why I rarely sew with stripes!  I’m glad that I made the effort though, particularly with the back yoke (even though I don’t even see it, I know it’s there).

I completely forgot to put a label in the binding of the neckline, so I included one on the bodice hem.  One of the many benefits of making my own clothes is that I can choose to put a label in if I like, and I can put it/them where I want. 

I chose to do a button closure, which is a hack I have done on another Sagebrush.  Having long hair means the ties can get caught in my hair and it’s a little annoying.  I also thought that cutting the full length of bias binding would ‘eat into’ the remaining fabric and create some unusual triangles.  Plus, I love buttons.  As is often the case, the button choice was a ponderous affair with four different options.  I’m very happy with my choice which is this caramel glass button from The Swagman’s Daughter.  I stitched some narrow elastic on one side to loop around the button.

Thanks for reading this fabric appreciation post  :o)