The Original Datura: Floral Remnant

This is another oldie but goldie today. I have blogged a long time ago about my favourite Datura, which is black with stars in, but this version actually came first! I made this version with the peter pan collar first as I knew that it would be a good confidence booster - even though I preferred the version with the cut out triangles, I also knew that I was such a newbie sewist that that version would be harder and I wanted to make sure I liked the style first.

This was made based on a gorgeous remnant I bought back in Sydney from Achieve Australia (back before it moved, it used to be in Meadowbank 5 minutes from my flat. That was a great but dangerous time!). I believe it's a rayon (but not 100% sure about that if I'm honest), in this lovely navy-based floral. I was drawn to the colors in the print and the lovely feel, but there was only a small amount, not even enough for a top! But with this pattern it’s perfect, as it’s great for small or odd shaped pieces.

Instead, I went to Lincraft and picked up a small amount of this coordinating navy cotton. It’s got a little more body than the remnant, which actually makes it a great pairing because the structure really works for the top half of the bodice. I made View B this time, using the navy for both the bodice pieces and lining. Luckily I had enough to do the collar as well as the bottom sections in the remnant and the two fabrics coordinate very well.

I also got these buttons from Achieve. Yellow is normally not at all my colour (I own nothing else yellow, and basically don’t even look at it in the shops as I really feel like it clashes with my skin tone), but it was definitely the best fit with this fabric. As I had with my other versions, I left the buttonholes off as I don't need them to get the top on and off. Instead I just sewed through all the layers when putting them on. It’s a great look but without all the hassle, and I like the way the buttons look!

If I’m totally honest I do like this top but I don’t wear it all that much - I just feel like it looks strange with black (black and blue look strange to me with only a few exceptions), and with jeans in blue it seem like too much blue? So I didn’t wear this as much as it deserves, although now I have these blue shorts I think they’ll get more wear in the warmer months. So maybe on holidays, given it’s now September in London and it’s already starting to cool down...

This lovely view is the top of the large mountain behind the Austrian town of Zell am See. We have just ridden up on the Schmittenhöhebahn cable car, having spent a long weekend here so that Richard could participate in his first half Ironman race. It was a lovely time and a gorgeous town! So these are rather windy photos, but I couldn't let such a good location go to waste. So forgive the slightly strange poses (that being said, I feel like all the poses are strange when it’s me posing) and weird faces - it was sunny, windy, there were lots of others around (which makes me feel awkward) and I had to hold my top down!