I thought I was going to take this to Europe, but decided against it because of the weight. The two stripe knits are wool that I washed first, and while very comfy to wear it’s a little bulky to pack. I used my TNT pattern Vogue 8962 which I love to sew with striped fabric because of the back detail. Isn’t this a fun back? I didn’t have enough fabric so I cut the pieces out with a corner missing, thinking that something could be done with the other color to fill in the missing piece. I think the split tail is kind of fun, so I ended up just leaving it and adding the square on the upper back for balance. I also didn’t have enough fabric for the cowl neck. I pieced both colors for the top, then decided that it would be more comfortable to have cotton knit instead of wool around my neck. I love having a stash in my favorite colors just for something like this!I‘m in Paris at this point, but hoping to have photos to post soon!

It’s been over a month since I’ve posted an entry! I haven’t been idle, but busy getting ready for my trip. For the first part of the trip my BSF and I are flying to Rome, then visiting my step-daughter in Positano. Then we return to Rome for a few days and then off to Paris with Marcy and Katherine Tilton! I can barely sleep, but haven’t had the time to take photographs. I wanted to catch up before I left so I’ll be posting a couple of entries to show up now, and in a week or so. Posting on vacation will depend on lots of factors, so I won’t promise, but I’m sure to have a few photos to post on our return.

Without further ado, here is my last piece of clothing for the vacation.

I used Vogue 8746 for the basis of this heavy silk shirt, but with quite a few changes. The silk came from Elfriede’s Fabrics in Boulder. She can always find something for a special project.

The discharge dying is what really stands out and I had so much fun dipping this beautiful dark brown silk in (horrors!) bleach. Yes, I know silk can dissolve in bleach, but I didn’t have the patience to order the appropriate product from Dharma Trading. I tested about 5 samples, which serendipitously turned mustard yellow a color in my travel palette. I did have a stop-bleach product so at least that part of the discharge process was correct. I decided to go for it. What happened? Some of the shirt panels started to dissolve!! Arggh!…Cool… a design opportunity is knocking.
I took some soft fusible knit interfacing and ironed it on the back of golden part of the fabric. Then I started to scribble with my sewing machine to hold the fabric together. Vertical red lines connect the scribbles. While it would be smarter in the future to order the correct product, I’m thrilled with the result.

There were several alterations to the pattern. I brought the shoulders in, and added a pleat in the back stitched closed at the neck and waist. A piece of LFN labyrinth tape at the top adds design and strength.

The original hem is a shirt-tail hem and I extended the straight hem to the bottom of the tail, then added slits to the side. Then finally, I didn’t want the fussiness of a cuff, but kept the little pleat at the cuff line.

I almost forgot! In the end I made another hidden zipper scarf to match!