Taking Silk

I rather like the ‘painterly top’ in the current Boden catalogue. Made of silk, it has a pretty scoop neck with pleating detail and short sleeves. “You can always rely on silk to elevate an outfit” says the website.

But it is also a stonking £59!!!

I thought a splash of silk would look good under my [incredibly smart] navy ‘preaching suit’

My SIL gave me a subscription to Prima magazine at Christmas- and that comes with a free pattern every month. The May issue included one for a shift dress – with little sleeves and pleating detail at the neckline.

And I had a large square remnant of silk which someone gave me last year [“I thought you could do something with it, Ang”]

So I made a top last night.  

I kept the pleating and topstitching at the neckline, but completely omitted the vertical darts at the front and back [and shortened it to hip length] That way I was able to make it without fastenings, so it drops over my head and drapes beautifully.

I tried it on with my suit last night and it looks fine. So that’s my ‘elevated’ outfit sorted for tomorrow. It took every scrap of the remnant! And it took less than two hours start to finish. If I wasn’t so busy with other stuff, I’d be tempted to find another remnant in The Stash and make myself a second top, I think! Thank you Prima magazine!