Vogue 8817 Katherine Tilton T-Shirt

I promise: this is the last of the brown and black ITY from FabricMart! Something about these two fabrics must really have struck a chord with me, since I made up two dresses and this t-shirt from them right away. The inexpensiveness of the yardage made me feel very relaxed about experimenting with it. There's a lesson in that, somehow.

I'm having friendly emotions toward Katherine Tilton now that I've enjoyed this pattern and also Vogue 8691 so much. Both patterns seemed to have been inspired by high-end RTW looks, and both struck me as being very well executed. This t-shirt in particular has interesting features on the front and back, in addition to sleeve details.

The sizing, too, has been straightforward. I started with an 8 at the neck and upper chest, transitioning out to a 12 at the hip. I also narrowed the front upper chest another bit (1/2" per side or 1" total) by folding out a long dart from the neckline to the bust curve, but hopefully you aren't as hollow-chested as me in that area! The 8817 shirt provides a line for petite adjustments below the waist, which I folded out exactly as it was printed on the tissue. The high-low hem I cut after otherwise completing the top by simply marking where I wanted the front to fall and curving it to the full length of the top at the back.

Of course the busy-ness of these prints somewhat obscures the nice seaming, but I liked how the high-low hem echoed the curved center front section.

The small crescent of lace at the front neckline was my addition, made with the idea of tying in the lace from the short sleeves and the back yoke. Although I think the instinct was good, it's not completely successful, as the neck binding doesn't curve quite smoothly enough. That could be fixed by making the curve where the main fabric and the lace section meet more gradual.

If this lace were more open or sheer, the contrasting sections would show more clearly. Even so, I like the added detail on the back.

The skirt is Kwik Sew 3672, so easy and comfortable!

In non-sewing notes, I just received some wonderful undies from Amazon.com and I want to sing their praises, in case you too might like to throw any pretense at sexiness to the wind in favor of a smooth and line-free look under summer clothing. This marvel of granny-panty-ness is the Vanity Fair Women's Perfectly Yours Ravissant Tailored Nylon Brief #15712.

With Amazon Prime, these were $6.35, with free shipping.

As a young teenager, I wore nylon panties like my mother's, just because that was the done thing in our family. Eventually I realized that granny pants were the antithesis of fashionable lingerie for my generation, and thus I switched to more youthful styles and fabrics. I've made my own high-waisted pants from leftover bits of knit fabrics for the past couple of years, but my stock of them is wearing out and I have no real desire to make more. Plus I just kept thinking about how good a really slippery base layer might be. These undies feel wonderful. If my skirt is opaque, I can now skip wearing a slip since the skirt can't grip on to my bottom and ride up. And panty lines are not an issue.

Yes, nylon tricot is available, and I could make these, but I'm so happy with the Vanity Fair product I think I might just give myself a break and support the continued availability of a sensible garment for as long as possible. Vive la Granny Pants!