I picked up a few vintage patterns at a stall on Broadway Market last year, and the moment I saw this one, Butterick 4126, I instantly “oh, how very Chloé!”.
Smocks have been in for the last few seasons now, but I finally got around to sewing this one up last week. I very happily used up some fabrics from my stash, a stripey polyester-rayon with a nice fluid drape, and the remains of an emerald raw silk that’s also been in a top for Gez and the lining of my Yamamoto jacket. The pattern was actually for a 34 inch bust (I’m 38”), but after deliberating whether to grade up the pattern or make a muslin, I did a very un-me thing and opted to throw all caution to the wind and just make it up as-is since it probably had a ton of ease in it anyway. And I’m glad I did, because my gamble paid off – I love the way it fits, and the only time it seems too small is squeezing my big head through the neck opening!
I’m really pleased with the way it turned out, except for one trivial thing that will bug me each time I wear it – I meant for the stripes on the collar to run parallel to the side edges of the collar, running from neck to shoulder, not horizontally. But by the time I figured out I’d aligned the grain with the wrong edge of the collar, it was already too late. C’est la vie!
And just to show I can create the functional as well as fashionable, I took a few minutes yesterday to create a pouch for the trainer (sneaker) portion of my Nike+ kit. I do a fair bit of running, but I’ve never once been prescribed Nikes for my feet and gait, so I wasn’t about to risk my health just for technology. Instead I followed the lead of others online who said you can just insert the shoe bit into your laces and it works fine, and sewed up a little velcro-fastened puch out of some red knit remnants.
I haven’t tried it yet, but I’ve got to go calibrate it before my usual Wednesday run, so I’ll keep an eye on it during the practice session. I didn’t bother to finish off the pinked edges since I figured I’ll be going so fast my legs’ll just be a blur anyhow!