A Loes Hinse Bianca Top

Thanks to everyone for your good wishes and continued prayers.  Your comments mean a lot to me and I need all the help I can get.   I hope the good Lord, who has looked over me and mine all these years, has other business left for me to do.

I enjoyed possibilities of the double black and white cotton knit (from MyVogueFabrics swatch service) that I used for the Sewing Workshop eShrug, so I decided to cut out (did that earlier in the week) and sew a Loes Hinse Bianca top (she calls it a sweater) using the striped side on the bias for the neckline and hem.

Sewing is a tactile endeavor, so when the feeling in the fingers can't discern the correct side for fusible interfacing,  you have to punt.    So here's what I did when I applied some soft fusible to the shoulder seams.    I used some left over pattern paper that I keep around and sandwiched the fusible and the fabric between it and pressed.  If I applied the wrong side to the fabric, the fusible would stick to the paper and not the iron, and this also protects your ironing board cover.   Turns out my guesses were good on both shoulders.    Perhaps this trick will help you keep the sticky off your iron and ironing board as well!   More about this on the Bianca Flickr Set.

Fusible applied to shoulder -- I just cut off the excess

Fabric/fusible sandwiched between paper

The Bianca pattern neckline is too high and tight for my tastes, so I cut one inch out of the neckline.  The new neckline measured 23" at the seam-line, so I cut the bias 20 inches to lay flat like this.   I doubled it, and then sewed/serged/ and then stitched in the ditch the outside, using Marcy Tilton's instructions in her Easy Guide to Sewing Tops & T-Shirts (Taunton Press) page 92.    I made the 3/4 inch sleeve version and just did a blind hem.   This top is boxy but the sleeve is fitted.

For the hem, I cut the garment with the wide hem allowance, then applied a doubled raw bias band of the knit around the bottom.   So this Bianca top is longer than one that has the wide hem.

Oh yeah I made some mistakes because of these fingers but ripped them out and happily continued.    I'm just happy I can still stand/sit/press and use the presser feet --  going through all the motions required to make a garment.