Memento Top
Updated: May 26, 2022
This garment is one of my favorites - and truly got me into sewing with garments from the past - in this case a grey silk T of my late Dad's, and a 2 piece knit ensemble of my late Mom's. My Dad's birthday is coming up 3/25, so when I saw it hanging in my closet - it made me think of him. I actually wore this to our daughter's wedding - so her Grandma and Grandpa were 'there' in a way.
See above the unique trimmed 2 piece knit ensemble of my late Mom’s that intrigued me for a re-cycle, up-cycle project. I find it very very useful to have some type of dress form – even if NOT exactly ‘you’. It is important to able to drape and stand back and ‘asses’. The process of this re-cycle garment was both easy and challenging. I didn’t take as many photos as I should have, but I think you can learn from the ones i DID take…. So here goes:
INSPIRATION
Trim on the knit 2 piece dress. There was quite a bit of it all together so that was encouraging.
The magazine cut-out showing a longer tunic type top with a draped collar and asymmetric design. That photo led to my taking the skirt and draping it up the front at an angle as seen on the final top.
The great antique button options I found in my stash
Dad’s lovely XL silk knit top that seemed to blend well, and could be the ‘base’ of the garment.
DRAPE TO MAKE IT WORK
At this point I had cut the grey T-Shirt of my Dad’s down to ‘my size’ using my Terrific T Knit Top Pattern as the ‘base’, cutting it a bit longer on the Front and Back and using the existing lower hemline as the ‘new’ hemline as well.
A cut up the center back of the skirt allowed me to play with it on the front. It was fun to decide to create an accent at an angle up the front using the trimmed lower skirt portion. The excess drape as shown in the inspiration photo just ‘happened then, at a ‘length to match the front neckline. To attach it to the front neckline and shoulder of the grey ‘base’, see the clip that was necessary at each inner neckline edge.
Very careful ripping of the original mock turtleneck of Dad’s grey top yielded just the right amount of