Hey hey y’all, Happy Hump Day!
Today I’m serving you up a new pattern release + pattern hack combo! So…. get ready to place your orders!!!
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For some of you the ice-cream licking, crop-top wearing, legs-out summer is dwindling down and you be gettin ready to bury yaselves in coats and scarfs; for others, you about to break out your swimsuits and shorts and show some skin in reverence of the sunshine thats headed your way. But… for me, well, its always summer LOL. I guess you can say it’s a perk of living in the islands… well if you actually LIKE the sunshine, and the suffocating heat that often comes with it!
Though I needed no excuse, I made a ‘summer-time’ set that I’m spilling the tea about today. It features the newest release from Sew Over It… the Niamh Skirt [5 points if you can pronounce it correctly]; a very hacked Tempo Sundress courtesy Love Notions anddddd the icing on the cake?… this gorgeous Ankara fabric from Afrique Clothing Store.
Ok ok ok, if you’ve been here for my last couple posts, you maaaaayyyyyyy have realized that i’ve been binge-sewing Ankara fabrics. Juliet and Lena got me started (again) during #ankaraappreciationweek… and I’m still at it. What can I say? I just love the bold prints and bright colors and the quality from Afrique is simply amazing! [and no I didn’t get paid to say that, they’re just sooooo good y’all!]
The Skirt
The Niamh Skirt is a beginner-friendly skirt pattern with three finished lengths to choose from: short, midi and maxi, making this skirt a great transitional piece. It features a V-shaped front yoke which fits around the hips, and then lots of gathers that flow away from the body. The pattern is pretty inclusive, going up to a 61 ¾” finished hip measurement. SOI recommends light to medium weight fabrics with lots of drape for this make, ya know, the rayons and viscoses but of course, I went against the grain and opted to make my skirt in this Ankara fabric, and lemme tell ya, I ain’t sorry!
I sewed this up in a size 16, and opted for the midi length (because I wanted to get maximum use out of my fabric which I’ll tell you a little more about below). I only made one fitting adjustment, a ¼” hollow hip adjustment, which has the effect of shortening the length of the side seam of the yoke. Sewing this up was pretty quick and easy though nailing the ‘V’ on the front yoke does require a little precision. I know many are a little intimidated by the invisible zipper but if you stabilize your zipper area with a strip of fusible interfacing and use an invisible zipper foot, you should be aiight.
The Top
Overall, I love my skirt, and before I even finished it I knew that I wanted to make a cute top to pair with it. I had recently made up the Love Notions Tempo Sundress, (which I blogged about here), and thought it had sooooo much potential for hacking… and that’s exactly what I did!
I started with a size large in the standard bust bodice, shortened it by an 1” and did a ⅜” sway back adjustment. I did away with the facings included in the pattern and self-lined my top instead. I then substituted the shirred centre back panel for a 2” elastic casing at the top, and 2 ties at the bottom which I tied into a bow to ‘close’ the waist. It was such a quick and simple hack guys, but the result is fabulous (IMHO). The only thing I noticed when photographing this top, is my bra peeks out below the casing. Next time I make this top, I’ll probably need to make a slightly wider casing or alternatively, play with the casing placement, for better bra-coverage!
The tempo sundress goes up to 5XL i.e. a 57.5” bust, and has 2 bust choices: the standard bust, and a full bust option (which reduces the need for an FBA).
If you wanna grab this pattern, be sure to use my Love Notions affiliate link!
[This link allows me to earn a small commission, but costs you nothing extra].
So there you have it guys! My summer-time Ankara set! Are you into matching sets? Which is your fave? the Skirt or the Top?
…and BTW its pronounced ‘neev’ (its Irish). I can bet my last piece of Ankara fabric that nuff a you didn’t get that right! Nevermind, I didn’t either lol 🙂
Gotta luv ya and leave ya.
Until next time,
xoxo
unsewcial.com 
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