Tuesday 14 April 2015

Snakeskin Belcarra

I’d had it in mind to make a Belcarra some time ago, but I never bought the pattern and consequently never really gave it another thought, until I saw this fabric…


I was a-wandering back from work one day and thought I’d check out the button wall in Pete’s Emporium in Porirua. Well I kinda ended up looking at fabric too and found this fine polyester crepe stuff with a snakeskin pattern and tiny black velvet-y feeling dots. I just cried out to me and said Belcarra.


So I bought the PDF pattern that evening. It’s the first Sewaholic PDF I’ve bought. I’m not a fan of printing out and sticking together umpteen pages, but I decided I could cope with 26 pages.


It is such a quick make. I stuck the pattern together one evening, then on Good Friday while Mr N was out playing golf, I made it up. Yep, you heard me, made it up and finished it all in one day. Slowcoach me finished something in one day!

After finding that I’d cut out a lot of Sewaholic patterns a size too big I cut a size 12. I hoped this was going to work. I have this thing about pull-on tops and once they are made up whether they are big enough to put on (I obviously have such a big head!). I needn’t have panicked, it fits perfectly.


I love the shape of this top with the raglan sleeves. I finished all seams bar those around the cuffs with French seams. (This is also another reason why I’m surprised I finished it in one day – it’s all French seams!) The seam around the cuffs I finished using my overlocker.


It is a really easy quick pattern to make up. There’s no shaping in the form of darts, only basic shaping on the side seams, so the only seams are the raglan seams, the shoulder and side seams.
I thought the binding around the neck wasn’t going to work with this fabric, but the velvet polka dots helped to stabilise the fabric and I had no problems! It was actually a dream to sew up!

The details
Fabric: some non-descript polyester crepe from Pete’s Emporium, Porirua, bought March 2015, I think I used about 1.5m
Notions: Thread
Pattern: SewaholicBelcarra, view A, size 12
Changes made: None
First worn: To work in Sydney, last week! Worn here with my self-drafted pale green pencil skirt. Sorry for the non-smiling photos - the sun was actually quite bright!
Another one/Recommendations: Oh yeah, I really like this! Another pattern to add to my Sewaholic collection. I don’t really consider myself a pear shape, but Sewaholic patterns really do suit my figure and wardrobe needs.
I really recommend the pattern, it’s quick and easy and can be made up in any type of soft woven fabric to get a different look. I love this version made in a floaty crepe, but it will work perfectly well in a cotton voile or lawn.


And since my insides are so lovely, I reckon this counts towards The Monthly Stitch Inside Out month from March.

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2 comments:

  1. The fabric sounds lovely. I always French sleeve my Belcarras. It gives a nice and durable finish.

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  2. The new top is terrific and it looks great on you! Thank you for sharing it!

    ReplyDelete