Yellow & Green Collection Piece #6: The Beaded Yellow Top

Somebody please cue Boyz 2 Men because we have finally come to the end of the road with this collection. The final piece is complete and I couldn’t be more in love. I completed this yellow top earlier in the year and just getting around to blogging about it (whoops!). I used Simplicity 8602 in view D and before I get into the details I added to this top, I must share the story behind how this top almost didn’t make it.

I purchased this yellow ponte knit fabric at a vintage consignment store and hoarded it for a while until finally cutting the pieces to this top out at the end of last year (2018). Everything was going well until I decided to iron the darts of the front of the shirt with the highest heat and no protection between my fabric and the heat of the iron. The biggest mistake! The iron left a burn imprint on the fabric and I was horrified. I thought maybe I could make the wrong side the right side of the fabric but that would have been rough on my skin. I then thought I could add embellishments or appliques to cover it but the placement would have been awkward. There was barely any fabric left to re-cut the front piece (or so I thought at the time), so I stuffed all of the pieces into a container and threw it under my table.

I thought about ending my Yellow & Green collection with my skirt and calling it a day but something was unsettling about that since I envisioned my collection with it. So I gave myself time to walk away, do something else and come back to it with a clearer mind. I am a huge advocate for walking away from projects for awhile to reset . I finally picked up the pieces earlier this year and somehow squeezed a new front pattern piece from the remaining fabric. I got to work and constructed the top in a few days but ran into a challenge with the sleeves. I needed to create a pleated ruffle but lost the pattern piece (I would pull some mess like this lol) to show me how to construct the pleats but I later figured it out while doing some math in my head at work.

I added a tan bias tape to finish off the neckline facing and the hem of the sleeves since I felt it would compliment and not compete with the yellow and pearls. I also thought the bias tape on the hem of the sleeves would help me save as much length on the pleated ruffle as possible.

Now onto the pearls. I always had the idea to add the pearls to this top but I wanted to add them on one shoulder, cascading down to right above my chest (I promise you it seems cool in my head), but I felt like it would probably come out strange. So then I had the idea to add it to the bottom of the pleated ruffle on the sleeve. I purchased my sew on pearl beads from Jo-Anns and began sewing each bead on, one by one, mixing in all the pearl sizes to create some fun dimension. I started off using yellow thread to attach the beads but as I shared my progress on Instagram, I received a suggestion from a follower to use transparent thread instead so that it would not show on the beads. It also gives the appearance of the beads floating on my sleeves and not necessarily attached. It was a really good idea but I was dreading having to start over but sucked it up anyway and took apart the one sleeve I had already completed to sew each one back on using the transparent thread. I didn’t expect for transparent thread to be so slippery so it took me a minute to get into a groove of sewing the pearls on.

This process took a long time since I had other projects I was working on in the mix but the end result was well worth it. I couldn’t believe how much love this top received on Instagram. I was so humbled and in awe, especially knowing that I would have missed out on all that love and owning such a cute top if I walked away from it indefinitely. It’s amazing how a top so simple can be transformed into a statement piece by adding a few embellishments here and there.

I plan to add a lining to the pleated ruffle to prevent the transparent thread on the inside from irritating my skin. Other than that, this top is a hit and completed this collection with a bang. Thank you so much to everyone for all the love on this top. This certainly will not be the last time you see me embellish a garment. Until next time loves!

Love,

Christine