a self-drafted floaty top

I've made a new self-drafted floaty poncho top.

Yesterday was my 54th birthday and earlier this week I decided I wanted to make a new 'something' for my birthday.  I'd fallen in love with Beth's poncho top she made in March for her MAGAM garment and had purchased this very sheer, very see-through fabric from Wal-Mart with that top in mind.  With recent temps in the hot mid-80s, I thought a floaty poncho top coupled with a tank or cami underneath would be a perfect birthday outfit.  Then, how dare a cold front move in the day before my birthday bringing cold and dreary rain coupled with 15 degrees below normal temps.  Thankfully, and gratefully, my birthday dawned a gorgeous blue-sky sunny day, though breezy, chilly and in the mid-50sF, so I paired this top with my long-sleeve Alabama Chanin inspired top underneath, and my brown NL6216 pants.  I wore my poncho coat too, and felt quite special as my sweet husband took the day off to spend with me in our local bigger town of Greenville, South Carolina eating out and enjoying a 'city' day. 

So simple to make.  The hardest part was squaring up my slippery-slidey material. 

These photos were taken today, the day after my birthday, and I struggled to get the lighting right.  *sigh*  Feel like I have a lot to learn in photography skills. I even tried taking photos in the later afternoon light.  I changed my pants to see how the top would look with Simplicity 7131 khaki pants.

I checked the link Beth linked to in her post, but basically ended up using that as 'inspiration' and did my own thing.  I cut the neck using the NL6735's as a sort-of template..... really eyeballing it more than anything after finding the true center of my fabric.

I used the entire 1 1/2 yards of 44/45" wide fabric I'd purchased.  The selvage edges are the 'sides' and it was really tricky to square-up and cut-straight the 'hem'.   The side seams are french seams and I left @10 1/2" opening for the 'sleeves' opening.  The sleeve hems are the selvage edges.  I figured with the floatiness, that wouldn't look much different than if I'd actually sewn a narrow rolled hem.

The best 'accident' was when I wasn't keen on changing out all the white already-threaded serger threads, so only threaded a brown and a dark blue in the two loopers, leaving the two white threads in the double needles and look what a great 'finish' it became!  My intent was to turn under after serging, but liked this look on both the neckline and the hem so much, I left it this way. 

Our neighbor's adolescent chicken (a Barred Rock breed) wandered up and I couldn't resist playing with her a little.  This poor little thing travelled a fair distance, up a hill and through deep woods to come a'visiting.

She's so sweet!  Our flock of chickens absolutely do not know what to think of this newcomer.  Hard to believe they were this little once.

I've worn this little top a couple of days in a row now, and love, love, love it!  It's such a fun, floaty, breezy top and will still be perfect for those hot summer days with something sleeveless underneath.

Cost:  1 1/2 yards of fabric @$2.97/yard = $4.50
Self-drafted:  Free!  and   Fun!