Hello all and welcome to the new year! 

We’ve passed the darkest parts of winter and it can only get warmer and lighter from here. The festive period has always been a time of reflection for me, whether that’s telling people how grateful I am to them or laying to rest some of the not so great experiences of the year. The end of last year was also a chance to look back on my makes and the start of Sew Naive.

One thing that stood out for me was how I wanted to push beyond my preset boundaries of comfort, not just in work, but also in sewing. This year my intention is to sew bravely, to take on challenges of new garments, styles and to revisit patterns that I failed miserably in 2018. 

I had been thinking about this for a while and when Perrine took part in #SewFrosting, writing a great post about her dream lace and sequin jumpsuit, she inspired me to take courage and go bold. 

Sew Frosting: what is it all about?

#SewFrosting was a sewing challenge originally created by Heather from Closet Case Patterns and Kelli from True Bias. It aimed to encourage sewists to sew impractical makes, aka frosting, rather than the practical everyday makes, aka cake, just for the fun and satisfaction you get from making them. They recommended a wide range of things to make, from loud prints to having a go with a pattern that you love but wouldn’t normally wear. 

As a sewer, I rarely participate in sewing challenges. One of the reasons is that I get overwhelmed with everyone else’s makes and the little voice of doubt creeps in. Even though sewing is such a personal hobby, I feel that my makes would not, and could not, ever measure up to everyone else's because I enjoy the simple styles with no glitz and glamour. Anyone else get that annoying little voice?

It has taken me years to push aside that voice, the one that sometimes grew so loud that I took breaks from sewing for months on end. The sewing community has been truly wonderful and since starting Sew Naive, sewing has definitely been put on the next level for me. It clears my mind and helps me to relax whilst giving me challenges to keep trying and improving. 

So without further ado, let me introduce Akita by Seamwork, my first piece of frosting for this year. A wardrobe staple that caught my eye because this lovely top was created with one pattern piece and used just over a meter of fabric; in my eyes a successful stash buster!

When I initially saw the pattern I was really confused on how I was going to make a top from that 1 pattern piece. Usually, I’m pretty good with the whole jigsaw of patterns and can almost see in my mind’s eye the steps I would take in the construction of the garment. But with this I was just stumped.

In the spirit of frosting, I decided to use my gorgeous navy crepe that had blurred splodges of colour, bought on the day that I met Francine and Perrine, a dreary summer day of 2017.  

I cut a size 0 based on the finished garment measurements and once I laid the paper pattern piece on my fabric, it all just clicked and my confusion vanished. Seamwork’s instructions were easy to read and follow. The additional diagrams left no room for confusion about what I needed to do. The only alterations I made to this top was that I didn’t use any bias binding because I didn’t have any and really didn’t want any temptations from visiting my local haberdashery. Instead I overlocked all the raw edges, folded them over once, gave them a good press and stitched right over to finish my seams.

The whole process from cutting out my paper pattern to that last stitch was a few hours. I want to say 2-3 but I always procrastinate between cutting and sewing pieces.

I was really surprised on how lovely it all came together and, hands down, this pattern might even be my quickest make of all time. The only thing that I would change for next time would be to include a thin ribbon that attached to the neckline, something to help the shoulders from sliding off my hangers!