They call me not-so-mellow yellow.
This yellow is brighter in person. It's like a sun beam. It's like corn on the cob. It's like a Wheat Thins box. It's like a Louisiana State University school color. These analogies make me both happy and annoyed. I really only bought this color because it was the sole apparel fabric (besides pink camo fleece or whatever) on the remnant shelf at the store, and I'm a sucker for cotton interlock knit so I couldn't resist. It's very possible this yellow looks awful against my skin tone. According to my mom I'm "autumn"-toned so I should probably be wearing more of a mustard color if I wear yellow at all. But sometimes a girl just wants to look like a miniature school bus, yaknow?
I only had .77 yards, but since it was 60 inches wide I could squeeze enough out of it to make a decent top with sleeves. (By decent I mean not scandalous; I don't necessarily mean decently constructed.) It's really short, though, and can barely be tucked into a skirt like this. I shouldn't have hemmed it at all because I was an irresponsible knit-stitcher and I didn't adjust the differential feed (or whatever) on my serger and now the hem is all stretched out and wavy. Who cares? Not me. Okay, well, I care a little bit. Okay, well, I audibly gag every time I look at the hem. How much gagging does it take before I decide I need to seam rip it all, though? Shall I set a hem-gag threshold for myself?
I used Vogue 8790 (beautifully illustrated above) as the base pattern. Obviously I didn't have enough fabric to use much of the original design with the uber-fancy faux wrap and waist gathers. It's my first Vogue pattern, and I only bought it because it was on sale for $3.99 -- normally it would be TWENTY-FIVE DOLLARS according to my receipt. C'mon, Vogue, take it down a notch.
Changes I made:
- Eliminated the "wrap" and made seams down the center front and center back. I kept as much of the gathered back neck part as I could, because I liked the look of the draped neckline in front. Mine's a little more folded-looking than draped-looking, though.
- It looked boring and kinda sloppy with just the V-neck, so I created front ties from some remaining scraps. They're sewn together into the front center seam. Now I have a bow blouse. A bright yellow bow blouse. Is this even a blouse, or just a top? What's the difference?
- I made the sleeves as long as I could with what fabric I had. This is my preferred sleeve length anyway, since they cover my (ahem, untoned) upper arms but can still be worn in warmer weather.
Total cost: $3.99 pattern + $7.69 fabric = $11.68. Worth it? Maybe. It's the perfect style for the schoolteaching job I never knew I wanted.
(source)
I've presented myself (and you) with many questions in this post. Let me wrap up:
1) How yellow is too yellow? Is it okay to walk around looking like a banana Laffy Taffy wrapper with a bow stuck on front?
2) How ugly is too ugly for a shirt hem that won't be seen by anyone else but me?
3) Why do Vogue patterns cost a million dollars?
4) What's the difference between a top and a blouse? If it's just about buttons, then the Pendrell Blouse must be a misnomer. Maybe there is no difference, but the Butterick website separates them into two categories (see here). This issue is obviously well worth a deep analysis and possibly a heated debate.
