Simplicity 7381: 1976 Short Kimono Sleeve Top

Here are a few photos of my most recent sewing project - a short kimono sleeve blouse with shaped neckband yokes. I just love the illustration on the pattern envelope for Simplicity 7381, especially the lady in the beret with her matching turtleneck top and wide leg pants and long pendant necklace. She just oozes bohemian cool circa 1976!

The fabric is a colorful vintage 1970s faux patchwork print cotton that was given to me by Stephanie of Mid West Vintage. The contrasting sleeve and neckbands are made from cotton chambray and are topstitched with white thread. There is a zipper in the back, but I almost never use it since it's easy to just pull on over my head. I would probably omit the zipper if I ever decide to make this again. I highly recommend this pattern if you're looking for a quick and relatively easy 1970s style top - it took me roughly 3 hours to finish. It's one of those designs that's perfect for spring summer, but would also work in the fall and winter as a layering piece since it's pretty roomy.

Back to Blogging

Wow! These past 8 months have gone by so quickly!!! My little guy is officially 8 months old next week. Now that he's taking good naps and sleeping completely through the night, I'm ready to jump back into blogging and sewing again! Here's a photo of Brydon and I (and a moose!) taken at Rocky Mountain National Park last weekend:

I've also joined the BurdaStyle community, which I'm super-excited about, and I have 7 handmade dresses making their way to Pack Rats, Etsy member Softspoken's new brick 'n' mortar shop opening soon in Columbia, SC!

Oh! Any my latest obsessions are Patti Smith:

And Desmond Dekker:

I finished reading Patti's amazing book Just Kids last week. I've always been in awe of Patti Smith, and this memoir about her days as a young, struggling artist in NYC with partner Robert Mapplethorpe is amazing! I've been on a reggae kick lately, so the music of Desmond Dekker has been in heavy rotation around here.