As soon as I saw the Photinia Top pattern from Fibr & Cloth from Alexis Bailey I knew that I had to have one in my closet. I was too busy to pattern test it and, as things go, it took a while to find a chance to stitch it up. I’m so glad I did, though. It’s got such a lovely, breezy happy body vibe.
As you may have noted, it’s absolutely not seasonly appropriate. In fact, it’s 32 degrees out as I write this. That’s how it goes with winter sewing sometimes. For goodness sake, it’s not practical. I run cold so if I were sewing for the weather I’d be adding legs to a sleeping bag.
Let’s be honest, it’s more of a wish and a hope for the kind of galavanting summer temperatures of some unforeseen future (or if you are me, a tropical vacation that is nothing but a faint whisper).
The beautiful thing about a garment like this is that it will happily wait in my closet, without complaint, for the perfect spring day. The Photinia Top is solid like that.
As an aside, because I know you are wondering, my earrings are made of polymer clay and are made by a local artist. She sells on Etsy here and she posts here. I’m in love with them.
I loved working with this sewing pattern. As is always the case with Alexis’ patterns, the instructions are clear and the construction is straightforward. I love that there is variability with the neckline. If you search the hashtag #photiniatopanddress you will find a variety of looks and it’s all because of the ability to do as much or as little gathering as you want at the neckline. In my case, I went for a wide scoop neck.
The fabric is a lightweight cotton that I bought ages ago. I made this top out of what I had leftover after making a pair of Rose Pants. I just realized I never blogged about those pants! Crazy. They exist somewhere in my Instagram feed.
As for this top, I’m sorry I can’t remember where I got the fabric but it was in my stash for a long time so it’s probably no longer available either way.
Regardless, it felt wonderful to use the last of this lovely floral print to create a top. It got me thinking about the satisfaction of using up the fabric in my stash. Maybe I could even try sewing from my stash this year and avoid buying new fabric? I’m a little scared to attempt it. Do you have any sewing related plans for 2022? Please share them so I can be inspired!
Related: See how Alexis styled her espadrilles!
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