Sunday Sew-Day: Cobalt Blue, Part I

With my black and white wardrobe beefed up, I think it's time to move on to some color! Namely, the beautiful cobalt blue I've been seeing a lot these days. Blue has always been one of my favorite colors. I am so ready to jump on this bandwagon! I picked up this super-sexy polyester blouse a few months back.

One cuff was missing a button, and the other cuff was missing entirely.

Add to that some pretty rockin' shoulder pads and a zebra-stripe-esque tone-on-tone texture that is as close as I get to wearing animal print.

Originally, I had planned on using this to make my peplum project for Refashion Runway, but once I cut into it, I knew the fabric was just not going to work well for what I had in mind. I quickly aborted that plan and went in a different direction, as you know, for that challenge. For this top, I instead chose to go simple, and like the creature of habit I am, I turned it around backwards and made yet another Sorbetto-ish tank top. I snipped out the shoulder pads and chopped off the sleeves.

I cut out the collar, leaving a scooped neckline in the back and and keeping the front higher since it'll be my new back.

I removed the remaining buttons and added those to my ever-expanding button collection.

Then, just as with the black and white top last Sunday, I pinned the two sides of my back together, right sides facing, and sewed just inside the button holes.

I pressed the seam outward...

...and top-stitched down either side.

The original sleeves and armholes were quite spacious, so when I removed the sleeves, my bra was showing pretty badly. The easiest fix was to take in the shoulder seams about an inch.

I also added bust darts, of course, coming in from the armholes.

I cut one of the sleeves into strips...

...which I joined end-to-end as needed to create my binding...

...which I then attached to my armholes and neckline.

I pressed it outward, folded it over, and sewed around it again to finish it off.

And that was that! Sorry for making virtually the same thing over and over again. It's just such a versatile garment. It can be paired with almost anything to completely change the look. The construction is simple, but fabric choices and little details can go a long way.

Also puppies. Puppies go a long way too. Especially growth-wise in the span of three weeks.