I first made the Sewing Workshop Now top last March. Around the same time I scored some of this Nani Iro fabric. If you aren't familiar with the name, Nani Iro fabrics are designed by Japanese artist Naomi Ito. Her designs are very graphic and very collectible – the fabric and notion equivalent of Beanie Babies (way back when), at least for some folks. I bought several pieces of her fabric from Korea by mail order early this year. The other pieces I purchased are Japanese double gauze - I love Japanese double gauze. This particular piece was advertised as cotton/linen, so I expected it to have a bit of drape, but when it arrived I was surprised how stiff this fabric is - almost like an upholstery fabric. I might venture to guess that the inks used to saturate the fabric added to its stiffness.
Nani Iro cotton/linen
I went ahead and washed/dried the fabric and, other than some stubborn wrinkles, it was fine. I wanted to use a design with minimal seams, so as to disturb the print as little as possible. Of course, this has the disadvantage of requiring a giant dart - not my favorite look, but oh well. I decided to use the Now pattern, but this time to make it so that I could wear it as a light jacket.
I actually made this jacket last spring, but didn't finish it and so I didn't blog it. (Meaning I am a bit vague on some of the details.) For this version, I lengthened the pattern a bit. (I can't remember exactly how much.) I put side slits at the hem. I bought some orange buttons for it but I cannot find them anywhere, so for now, I am wearing it without buttons. :) I finished most of the seams with French seams.
I also mused that it would look nice with curved welt pockets and some lightweight shoulder pads, but never followed up with either. Who knows, I may go back and tweak it more later.
I'm wearing it today because of Self Stitched September and because it's a warm day. In fact, I hemmed it last night, so this is the first time it's been worn.
The cream top is Christine Jonson's v-neck tee, which is a pattern I've made twice but haven't blogged - I still haven't tweaked it to my satisfaction, but it's fine to wear under other things. The pants are my white linen Trios, which have been washed and dried several times and are almost impossible to iron with those 3D pockets, so they are a bit rumpled. :)
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