It’s ombré, hombre! If there’s one thing that will have me clicking “Add To Cart” faster than a Canadian politician can resign after a #metoo complaint, it’s ombré. (Oh, and Asian-style prints. Especially with cranes. But I digress.)

There was one lousy yard of this fabric left in stock, so I snatched it up, determined to find a way to make it work for something. I used the One Hour Top pattern, which is free from Fancy Tiger Crafts, but I modified the sleeves. The original pattern is just two pieces — a front and a back that include cut-on sleeves. I didn’t have enough fabric to fit these two large pattern pieces so I cut my sleeves separately.

(Side note: I have never sewed ANYTHING that has taken only an hour. This One Hour Top included.)

As a rule I usually sew a quarter-inch clear elastic into the seam at the shoulders of any knits I sew. I’m told this prevents the shoulder seam from pulling down and stretching out over time. In this case, though, it kinda created a gathered/ruched effect. This fabric is very lightweight so maybe I should have adjusted the settings on my serger or something (still a mysterious dark art to me) to prevent this? Or maybe the elastic was stretching out as it got pulled into the serger? Whatever. I think this actually looks good and consider it a happy accident. Design feature, baby!

I thought I was being clever wearing a black bra underneath this slightly sheer top. Looking at these pics now, I’m not so sure this was a good strategy. I mean, if I wanted to look, you know, “effortlessly alluring yet casual in a cheeky kind of way, but like, EFFORTLESS, of course” — because figuring out what to wear is always effortless — this full-coverage t-shirt bra that seems to be carved all in one piece out of dense foam was probably not the way to go.

I tried the t-shirt out with my Carrie cardigan. I’m not winning any awards for pulling together a look here, unless it’s the Why Didn’t You Make an EFFORT While Pretending It Was All Completely EFFORTLESS??? fashion award.

Oh look, it’s me looking effortlessly effortless again!

P.S. There’s a new episode of the Clothes Making Mavens podcast out, if you haven’t caught it yet. Meet Naomi of Spare Room Style, her sister Miriam of Create Hope Inspire, Shannon of Adventures of a Young Seamstress, Amy from Almond Rock, and Manju from Sew Manju!

Thanks for stopping by!

— Lori