Nani Iro gets a New Look

I originally purchased this Nani Iro double gauze to make the Oliver + S Jump Rope Dress, but changed my mind. I had ordered 150cm from Ballarat Patchwork (closing down in 4 days, 50% off all stock, get in fast!), but it turned out that there wasn't a full length available. I ended up with one length of about 1m and another length of about 115cm, meaning I had over 2m instead of the 150cm I had ordered. Since I had that much extra, I decided to make something for myself instead.


I have had the New Look 6891 pattern sitting in my stash for awhile, waiting for the right fabric, and decided that the Nani Iro would be perfect. Whilst this top is "growing on me", I kind of wish I had done a toile first. I chose the pattern size to match my bust measurements, but the model on the pattern is obviously wearing a couple of sizes larger than the size recommended; there appears to be more pattern ease than there really is. Had I done a toile, I would have made it a size or two larger.


The neckline is also quite wide. I need to add some little bra clips to this top as it keeps sliding off the shoulder and won't stay on an ordinary coat hanger. I love the bound neckline, but if I were making another one of these with double gauze, I would cut the binding wider and use some starch as it was quite fiddly with fabric that frays so easily. The rest of the top was a cinch to put together though, and I love the sleeve detail, and the little button at the centre front. The gathers around the bustline are also nice.


The pattern had a weird cutting layout, where you cut the whole piece in half and lay one half over the other. This suited me alright as I had those two pieces of fabric. There is a seam down the centre front and down the centre back, so no pieces are cut on the fold. It would make it really difficult to match patterns but I wasn't concerned with this fabric as it had a kind of randomness to the dots anyway. Whilst the pattern recommends woven fabrics, I am tempted to give this one a try with a stretch fabric as well - I love, love LOVE the double gauze, it is beautiful and floaty - perfect for a sunny spring day.


For this pattern, I used eight fat quarters.
SYST13 Running totals: in = 107, out = 103, total = +4