I Love My Seam Ripper

I set a record Saturday for the number of times I sewed something together the wrong way. I was making a knot top, the pattern for which was deconstructed from one of my favorite Liz Claiborne tops. Because it was deconstructed from a RTW top—and because I had this mistaken belief that I would remember how it went together—there were no instructions accompanying the pattern pieces. I have made myself a top from this pattern once, but that was right after I deconstructed the original.

The front pattern piece looks like this:

It is cut twice—mirror images—then seamed together before sewing it to the back bodice. I knew that Step 1 was to finish that top curved edge on the serger, but after that, I was mystified.

I sewed various edges together and tried to origami the top into shape. I took out each of those seams. I got very close at one point, only to realize that I couldn’t make a knot because the pieces needed to be seamed together to form some kind of circle and the tops of the pieces were finished but not connected. (Had I known what a circus this was going to be, I would have snapped photos simply for the entertainment value.) I examined the original top and the top I had made. I could see what what happening; I just couldn’t figure out how to get there.

I gave up and went to the baby shower, although part of my brain was busy processing in the background the entire time. By the time I came home, I was pretty sure I had figured out the order of operations so I tackled it again.

Success!

I wrote the numbered steps on the pattern piece for the next time I make this top. What needs to happen is to sew the two front bodice pieces together along that large concave edge (right side in photo). That forms a facing which gets folded down (RS together) and sewn along the bottom of the keyhole opening. The front and facing are turned to the outside. One side of the bodice gets flipped and threaded through the keyhole opening to form the twist. Then the center front seam is sewn, enclosing and anchoring the facing at the same time.

Being head blind is so frustrating.

But I’ll use this pattern again now that I’ve written down the instructions. Of all my knot tops, this style is my favorite.

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The sewing area needs a good cleaning and organizing. I’ve bought quite a few patterns recently and they are strewn hither and yon, waiting to be traced and tested. I’d like to get all of that under control before I start any quilting projects, although I did pull out the bin of previously-cut tumbler units. I am taking those with me to Seattle. I don’t want a project that requires a lot of trimming or squaring up of units.

After testing out the free version, I decided to open a paid Metricool account for managing all my social media accounts. I still have some work to do, but I like the ease of use thus far.