Sunday 22 April 2018

Badminton top

When I wrote my summary of all the Oliver + S patterns I'd sewn, and realised I only had two left to sew, I also realised I had only a few weeks of sunshine left and should get onto that cute little Badminton top right away.


Of course it was a delight to sew, but then I say that about every Oliver + S pattern that I finally get around to sewing for the first time.

This was a straight size 7 and while I'd normally add some torso length for my long bodied kid, the fabric remnant didn't allow for that.


The fabric is a super cute border print that I first used for a Roller Skate dress way back here, and had a tiny bit leftover. I just managed to cut out the top with no leftovers at all (yay for getting rid of small leftovers) and remembered I had some teal green bits that I thought would work for the yoke and arm bindings. It looks perfect against the small bits of green with the brown background but once the main green border comes into view it obviously isn't that great a colour match after all.


I toyed with the idea of a different colour altogether, or even buying (shudder) some green that was a better match... But then I thought to ask the kid. She declared it to be "absolutely perfect".

My first instinct was to argue that of course it wasn't....Blind Freddy could see it was the wrong shade... But I bit my lip. If she thought it was perfect and if it could be made entirely out of remnants then perfect it shall be and perfect it is.


Continuing with the theme of close enough is good enough, I found a tiny bit of grey brown bias binding to make it a drawstring tie for the front. It's not ribbon, nor is it the right shade of brown, but this Badminton top is looking more and more like a shuttlecock approximation so who cares.


It's pretty cute paired with the Badminton Skirt (which is two years old and probably only a size 5 from memory) and some mosquito bitten knees.

There's been a lot of talk of this top/dress being the perfect summer nightie pattern. Now that I've finally made the top as a wearable everyday top, I'm liberated to make the dress in all white next summer as the ultimate nightie.


She's excited, trust me!




10 comments:

  1. From where I'm standing I can only say all the colours are perfect together. I love the way the binding deepens the teal of the hem , where the grey is a perfect dusty warm tint, just a faded shade of the brown. It couldn't have been more pretty. I even think it would have made the too dull when it had exactly matching colours, it now has a certain ton-sur-ton going on that draws the eye. Very inspirational, love your blog! I so love to follow the train of thought and the process of making something, to read along with all the decisions that go into a well made garment. I keep putting off to set up a blog of my own but when I read a post like this I really understand that writing it up is giving something back to the world. So thank you for you post in all kind of ways.

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    1. Oh heavens Anne, you can come again! You've made my month with this hilarious, eloquent and very kind comment.

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    2. Lol I will no question about it! Ty :)

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  2. This is great! And to be honest, it's hard to tell (from the pictures anyway) that the colour isn't quite the right match. I completely empathise with the conflict between knowing the colour match/pattern match/coordination could be so much better and a child who thinks it's the best thing EVER and doesn't want to change a thing! But it's lovely, and I look forward to seeing the all-white nightgown!

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    1. The slightly off colouring has grown on me and I'm glad I just went ahead and made it up. Seeing something being worn is far more satisfying than making it exactly as you'd imagined.

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  3. Excellent stash usage - and in this case I think 'nearly matching' is good enough!

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    1. Thanks Marisa, I'm feeling so virtuous using up all these leftovers, yet somehow my stash doesn't seem to be shrinking. I wonder if it's the same psychology as people eating more ice cream after going to the gym. ;)

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  4. OMG, her expression in that last photo! MOOOOOOOM. (Or is that MUUUUUUUUM.) I love this top and the colors are great in my opinion. Sometimes a bit "off" has its own charm, I say.

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    1. Ha ha, you almost made me wish I was the target of the eye roll. But of course it's only a big brother who get a reaction like that (I'd just get a plain old scowl I'm sure).

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  5. Love this top, no problems with the colours and A looks so happy with it.

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