Vacation Mode in McCalls 7155

I had the weekend off to go camping, but was so indecisive about where to go that I waited too long to make reservations. The weather turned cooler for a couple days and of course all of the nearby campgrounds were booked. It worked out just fine though because we caught a bit of Fort Worth's Fall Gallery Night and hung out with some new friends Saturday evening. Sunday we made up for not camping by checking out Cleburne State Park on a day trip. The highlight of the park is a spring fed lake and a CCC built Spillway. My Pawpaw was in the CCC, so I always love to see structures that they built in the 1930s still standing. We took the opportunity to do a little photo shoot with my newest make, McCalls 7155. I am still sewing for Mexico, so all of my makes continue to be Summery.

 

I dyed this linen with Indigo at my mom's house a while back. I just wadded it up and tied it as an experiment and was thrilled with the outcome. The straps are also hand dyed rayon challis.

 

I like the swingy shape of this top and I think the fit is just right. I made version A in size small.



 I was inspired by Heather Lou's Inari Tee dress with neon topstitching. I couldn't find any neon topstitching thread and don't have the triple stitch that she mentions. I used a neon yellow embroidery thread and I think it works pretty well. Instead of facings I made bias tape out of the yellow rayon.

 

While the highlight of this tank is definitely the funky straps, they were a bit fussy to get right. I don't have a dress form so it was pin, try on, re-pin, try on. Frank tried to help but ended up poking himself with pins. I still didn't get them just right but I do like the outcome. I wove the straps through each other and did sew the top and bottom points together where they met. I almost think a knit strap around elastic would work better for this effect. Hmm, I have more experimenting to do.

 

Speaking of the straps, I don't know how you would wear this top without a bra showing. I am wearing it with my swim top here, and that is how I imagine I will use it. I think I would make this pattern again, perhaps in a drapier fabric. I do think that version A is the only one I really care for out of the six options.