Literary Sewing Circle

 Literary Sewing Circle Project

Over at Pattern Review a member, Melwyk, runs an occasional Literary Sewing Circle (she links this to her blog.)

I joined the reading this month - Banyan Moon by Thao Thai, about three generations of women living together in an old rambly house in Florida, with a large Banyan tree in the yard. The novel features a folk tale in which a Banyan tree picks up a character and flies to the moon (kind of)! This fabric, with the moon and branch, evokes that story, and also that dreamy feel that I got from the narration. I enjoyed the book.

This is another piece of my Hanoi not-silk - from my travel stash. I really fell in love with the image on it. I only noticed when I got home that it had some irregularities in the print along the edges, but this was not a problem. I also only noticed when I did a burn test back in Ottawa that this was likely not-silk.

Discussions with my local frock-friends had led me to the Sew House Seven Remy Raglan for this fabric - with limited seams it would allow the print to shine. Nevertheless I chose the view with the seam down the front - I liked that version better. For some reason my fabric puckered - I even used a brand new needle. Maybe I will need to put some buttons as a distraction!

I made up a quick muslin from an old linen/cotton bed sheet to check the size and it seemed fine.

I also chose the long sleeves with gathers and small cuff. I am quite happy with those sleeves! They are a bit 'short', but that keeps the fabric out of the way.

Got a button from the button stash next door - perfect.

The fit

So the jury is out on this. There are a lot of  extraneous folds which make it look like a poor fit. Is it? Or is it the nature of the fabric and the raglan sleeves? Will it look a bit better after I wash the gelatine out? (The gelatine was used to stiffen the fabric for easier handling while cutting and sewing.)

The shirt is short. Not cropped, but not long enough to tuck in. I think this will work for me.