I took a little break from working on my Moto Jacket pattern to participate in a fun event – Top Stitchers! Â This is the brain child of Becca Duval of Free Notion, and pairs competitors up to meet challenges in different categories.
I was assigned the category of pioneer, and as such I was tasked with utilizing a fabric or skill I hadn’t ever before.  I’ve sewn with lots of different fabrics, including leather, so I really had to think about what types of materials would fit this requirement.  We’ve all seen Farrah of Mingo & Grace’s beautiful Blake Dress done in pale blue neoprene, and I love how structured that was.  Arden needed something for the bottom half, so vegan leather rounded out my fabric challenges.  Neoprene – check!  Vegan leather – double check!
I ordered the neoprene from Mood in double sided blue and lime colorway. This is garment weight neoprene, not scuba knit so it’s thick and very structural. I used my LOL Swing Top with the neoprene so that it wouldn’t be clingy and would give it a great bell shape which plays into my inspiration – we’ll get to what that was in a bit! Sewing the neoprene was a challenge! My machine handles thick fabrics just fine, but this is thick and spongy and I had to work slowly to not have skipped stitches. I left all the edges raw as a design feature, and instead of the gathering the pattern calls for, I made a small inverted pleat at the center front and tacked it in place. Seam allowances are finger pressed open and stitched in place to minimize bulk as much as possible and to make the material lay flat between pieces.
The vegan leather is from Girl Charlee and has only 10% stretch, so I matched it up with a pair of Mini Hudson Pants by True Bias. I’ve made this pattern before, so I knew there would be enough air flow as the fabric doesn’t breathe well. It’s paired with navy blue ribbing from Jo-Ann Fabrics. I modified them slightly to have only a narrow band of ribbing at the knee. I had envisioned using an elastic casing, but once I started working with the fabric, I knew it wouldn’t work well for that since I couldn’t press it at all. The vegan leather overall was pretty easy to work with, as long as the fabric was right sides together. I used my walking foot when I was basting the pockets in place because the fabric began to stick and push ahead of the presser foot. After that adjustment, it was no different than any other stable knit. I also whipped up a simple headband out of the vegan leather and some orange fold over elastic using a free pattern and tutorial from Me and My DIY.
Aside from working with these fabrics, I also wanted to incorporate a new technique. That brings me around to the “Seven Wonders” prompt! I chose the Taj Majal to serve as my inspiration. I’ve been lucky enough to visit Agra and the Taj Majal during my tenure as an internal auditor with a large corporation.
I added a band of sashiko, a Japanese form of embroidery to the front of the top. I modified a classical wave or “seikai-ha” design to resemble the peaked dome of the Taj Majal. As this is my own pattern, I was able to draft this shape in Illustrator and overlay it onto my pattern pieces to become a template. I then traced it onto lightweight fusible interfacing and ironed it onto the backside of the bottom front. Several hours of relaxing hand embroidery while watching Mad Men and it was all done!
Arden has been doing some yoga along with me. She says what I’m doing isn’t difficult enough, so she comes up with her own creative moves! She was pretty excited when I told her I liked the poses she was showing off for the photo shoot taken at our local park.
I feel like I stepped up to the challenge and learned some great skills along the way. I’m definitely going to add more touches of sashiko to my life! I’d love to hear what you think of what I made and I can’t wait to see what Olu from Needle & Ted has up her sleeve – I know it will be fabulous! Â Be sure to head over to Free Notion to provide scores and feedback for both looks this week.
Outfit Details
Headband: Me and My DIY
Top: LOL Swing Top in neoprene
Capris: Mini Hudson Pants in vegan leather
Shoes: Old Navy
You even played with multiple prompts! very nicely done.
Oh my goodness, Jenn – this is so great! love the colors and type of fabrics – and the sashiko came out beautiful!
Oh wow! You really responded to this challenge! Good for you.
WOW! I’ve never seen anything so FAB! You’ve accepted the challenges, you must be so proud! Never seen this fabric sewn for clothing either. You are certainly creative as this top is fantastic — Japanese embroidery pattern along the bottom edge on the front as well as the lime back yoke. I’ve seen the Taj Mahal twice 20 & 28 years ago, the most beautiful building I’ve ever seen! Sarah in Minneapolis
Beautiful work Jen. Well done on tackling all those challenges and coming up with something this cool….