Shirr-ly Not

I resisted shirring anything for a long time. A REALLY long time. I knew I had to wind the elastic thread around the bobbin by hand and I wasn't too thrilled about THAT idea. bleck!!!

BUT, I wanted to make a peasant top for myself. When patterns were on sale for $1 at JoAnn's last time, I picked one up.


I already had an idea of what I wanted to do, but didn't feel like figuring out the pieces myself....at $1 a pop for a pattern, why re-invent the wheel?

So I used the pieces from the pattern, view A.

I sewed the sleeves onto the front and back, then hemmed the neck and the sleeves. I ran three rows of shirring at the neckline, and two on each sleeve.
I sewed up the side seems, marked the pattern suggestions for the bust shirring, and then hemmed the bottom.
My machine has a cute star stitch, so I put three rows of that at the bottom, for FUN!!!

Then I tried on the top and decided the bust shirring suggestions were too high.
My top row of shirring is one inch below their suggestion, with two below it for the bust.

As I finished, I noticed it looked very much like a toddler dress, so I put it on the only toddler I had available: William!!


My model was so cute, I took a bazillion pics of him!


And of course, two of me, modeling my top in the mirror. I'm terrible at taking this kind of pic. Doesn't this top look super fab with those pants??



Gosh, my living room is a mess!!! I should pick up rather than sew!!!
bwwwaaaahhhaaaahhhaaa!

PS...Ok, Michelle, you win. Shirring is easy. and I like it!!