Last weekend I spent some time working on a pair of
Anima pants in a very cute houndstooth knit. The story of that make, which was unnecessarily tortured, is for another time (or not at all) but I'm sad to say, they look horrible on. So after such an unsatisfactory dalliance I felt like I needed to come home to some Liberty.
The fabric I came home to is Wildflowers D from the 2014 Autumn Winter collection of the same name 'Wild flowers'.
Here is the fabric story:
Wild Flowers by Su Blackwell is a recollection of early childhood journeys across the British landscape in discovery of native flora. This joyous Liberty fabric was initially inspired by illustrations from an early 19th Century book, 'Field Guide to Wild Flowers in Britain'.
I'd also recommend going to
Su's site for more in depth information on the print and the original inspiration.
All the designs are stunning and beautiful, of course, but I think there is only so much flowery Liberty I need and there seems to be other Liberty fabrics being released that are more interesting to me at the moment (that are part of other stories for the Autumn Winter 2014 collection, like
Laurens Leaf). I did buy this one though from
Tessuti with the original intention of making a
Veste Bernadette, but when the fabric arrived, while I liked it, I just didn't feel it was right for that jacket. Too much somehow. So it sat in the stash for a little while I contemplated what to do with it.
I became inspired by a very loose peplum style top. My journey started with the
Chemise Maeva and while I'm not 100% sold on the button down for me, I love how floaty it looks. In more Republique du Chiffon love, I have also been covetting the
Robe Lucie, especially
Joe's which looks gorgeous. We are in the middle of winter here so the Lucie will need to wait for now. Finally I'm sure you are all familiar with Debbie from
Lily Sage and Co. Not only do we share a love of the drop waist, but that lady knows how to do a structured peplum, but this fabric needed a gathered one.
So it was set: a loose peplum top with 3/4 sleeves. I used the pattern from the
Burda Wrap top as the basis as I like the 'kick' that this top has and just cut the front on the fold. I then roughly worked out where the gathered piece was going to sit and sewed it on. Nothing complicated.
I have a bit of excess fabric under the arm at the back, but I don't mind as it is a loose top. The result absolutely matches my vision. It's got the right shape, which is unbelievable. I've already worn it heaps and I love it with my pants and work shoes as much as I love it with my jeans.
I struggled with photos of this top.This is one of those makes that looks better in real life (I think - I hope!). Also because of the colours, when I stood in my usual spot in the front garden I was camouflaged. So for once I used our 'handball' wall - hence the chalk lines! Sorry.
Next up - I'm going to work on my
Veste Michelle, it's been half traced for weeks now so it's time I got on with it.
