This spring I finally had time to enter a couple of outfits in the Bloomington Trashion/Refashion show, which was a blast. I refashioned a couple of old Mexican embroidery garments that had belonged to my mother, plus some string from a defunct furniture factory, into cute new outfits, modeled in the show by a couple of adorable young women.
The whole experience got me thinking hard about all the wonderful materials I have tied up in unused yard goods and boring, outdated or ill-fitting clothes. At the same time, I don't have many summer clothes that I actually want to wear. And thus was born this summer's challenge: Make a week's worth of new tops, seven in all, from fabrics and notions already in my stash.
Here's number 1, made from a piece of batik fabric I bought in Kinshasa six years ago. The pattern is New Look 6107. The covered buttons, interfacing and thread were all found in my stash. I love this top; it's a flattering shape and the pattern wasn't hard to adjust to my size. I'm visiting my sister in Minneapolis and have worn it at least three times already, so this one's definitely a keeper.
I made a set of Roman shades for my sister's bay window while I was here, which turned out very nicely, too, so I'm feeling very creatively successful at the moment. We're having a great time, but tomorrow I will return to the Hoosier state and my brain is already working hard on tops #2 and 3.
