Island Vibes

Andrea, from Sew To Fit, is caliente in her new two piece ensemble.  She used Teal Green Tropical Print Viscose Poplin with Vogue 9319 for the top and McCalls 7692 for the pants.  I’m seeing a lot of salsa dancing for Andrea in the very near future!  Thanks Andrea!

What you are looking at is a culmination of two patterns and one wonderful fabric working in tandem to bring my inspiration outfit together.  First the fabric, since I am a die hard fan of all things Sew Much Fabric, is the Rayon Poplin in a Teal Green Tropical Print, 100% Viscose.  It seems every fabric she sources, just has to end up on my cutting table!!  The drape….ooooh the drape!  So, let’s talk patterns.

Inspiration:

The palazzo pants, McCalls 7692, is an exact Nicole Miller design which was my TRUE inspiration.  I really, really wanted the shirt to match but that will have to be with a smaller print.  This large scale tropical print just would not have translated into this look for me.  

This is a V-neck top from Vogue 9319, a Very Easy pattern.  I much prefer the top with the long sleeves but this cute flutter sleeve sold me.  Some major pattern re-designing aka “hacking” had to be done for “my” kind of modesty. 

Pattern Designing: 

I redrew the front based on my personal “shirt/blouse” block, which is not the same as a regular “bodice” block or to some, the sloper.  After overlaying this Vogue pattern to get the main details, I then used my personal shirt block for the back.  The sleeve had to be modified to fit into my shirt block which saved me from needing to completely make a new sleeve.  

I am extremely happy with the outcome and totally intend to make many more tops like this based on my own block.  I can now play paper dolls with my basic shirt block beyond the norm.  This crop top has now been added to my pattern rotation of favorites.

Who’s ready for some salsa!!!

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