A Hemlock, briefly

This is a short one, guys. Literally.

It's a Grainline Hemlock tee, and my word, I love this pattern. Such an easy sew, the one-size-fits-all fits me perfectly, and, best part of all, it's free! Thank you so much for your generosity, Jen of Grainline, and any angsty feelings about side bust darts are completely forgotten.

For this version, I cropped the pattern quite a lot, on the advice of my husband (the man has opinions) and the style gurus I can now carry round in my pocket thanks to Instagram and the internet. God bless modern technology, y'all. My plan for next time is to lengthen the pattern a bit into a dress/tunic, because that was working well as a potential look too. 

This black and gold stretchy, stripey knit that felt fancy enough to make me think I could dare to bare my usually well concealed midriff, came from the bargain basement of Misan Textiles. That place is a dream, but I do hope someone a bit less intimidatingly supercilious is on the checkout next time I visit. Then I might actually work up the courage to ask what the heck the fabric I'm buying is actually made of, because I have no idea what's in this. It feels lush and went through the wash well though, so ignorance is bliss in this case. 

My attempt at stripe matching turned out pretty OK, I think. The fabric walked a bit as I sewed it up, so it's off by a couple millimetres down the side seams, but I can live with that. It's no worse than my shop bought stripey tops! I'm also pretty pleased with my attempt at a neckband, especially given that I first sewed it up inside out and spent an entire evening cursing, unpicking and worrying I'd stretch the neckline out beyond recognition in the process of messing it about. Because I altered the neckline to make it more of a boat neck (I used the Coco pattern to help with that), I had to guesstimate my own neckband length, and judging by how it stands up off my shoulders a bit at the side seams, I reckon I didn't make it short enough, so it's not stretched tightly enough to lie flat. Maybe I need to make it shorter & stretch the neckband a bit more as I sew next time?

Because this blog is nothing without a healthy dose of Awkward Photography, here's one my husband has titled Woman Afflicted by Itchy Head, Crotch and Bad Smell. I'm so winning the next season of Top Model, you guys. And here's my usual self-timed photography companion. Because it's the internet, and there must be cats.