Yay – I’m so so so stoked on the newest addition to my slow fashion wardrobe, this wrap crop top! It can be worn both in the front and the back, and I love that it has clean french seams.
For this project, I followed a pattern for the first time ever. And thank goodness, because it was so easy! It’s a PDF pattern called the Morning Glory wrap top. You can download it as a freebie thanks to Sarah Kirsten – visit her site here. I also watched this YouTube video (which was how I found the pattern) by Hemmed by Em that was super helpful in visualizing how the process of following the pattern.
What you’ll need
Medium weight fabric (I’m using 100% white cotton)
I won’t go over how to make it since you can easily find out how by following the pattern on Sarah Kirsten’s website, but here’s how my cuts turned out, and after about an hour of sewing, the finished product!
Here’s how it turned out!
I love it both in the front and back! I wore it all day today, and I’m excited to wear it out for whatever, grocery shopping or hanging out with friends… at a safe social distance, of course. I feel like I could even wear it to work… or is that too spicy? Haha. It turned out pretty much exactly the way I wanted it to, and I’m so excited to make more with the other fabrics I got!
Please don’t mind the hair tangled in my necklace chain haha, I’ve been shedding like an old dog!
stay home, drink water, and make your own clothes 🐚 〰️
Ever since I was a very little girl, my sister and I would drape blankets and sheets into gowns and have mini fashion shows in our shared room, with a table as a catwalk and everything. I taught myself how to sew and crochet in high school, and asked my parents to buy me a sewing machine. They gifted me with my first Brother sewing machine, bought at Costuless at the time. I’m so grateful that my parents were always supportive of my creative pursuits, whether it was my sticker collection, diy scrapbooking, digital collaging, photography, crocheting, and sewing. Now that I think about it, all my hobbies back then are still what make me happy and fuel my passion for creative work. I owe my inspiration to my Nona (my grandma on my dad’s side) though. She was a very crafty woman, and I still strive to be like her.
Anyway, I’m still an amateur sewist. I can still barely sew straight lines, especially on thin twice-folded edges. I’m still learning, but as you may know, I love learning! I’ve mostly done easy sewing work, like pillowcases, curtains, and tote bags. I’ve made a couple items of clothing over the years, but I’ve always kept it super simple, and I avoid buttons and zippers at all costs… The hard part is putting a pattern together for clothing. I’m slowly getting the hang of conceptualizing and piecing together pieces.
I also loooove fabric and textiles. My dad used to have a swatch book of furniture textiles, and when I was a kid I loved pulling it out and touching everything, observing the fabric weights, textures, and knits. These days, I enjoy taking my time and touching all the different fabrics at the stores. We have limited options, but the selection has definitely gotten way better since I was in high school. I always gravitate towards sustainable, naturally sourced fabrics such as cotton, rayon, mull, and linen. We only have certain types of cotton and rayon, but I’ll take what I can get. The soft linen on island is usually a polyester mix, so I avoid those.
Here’s my most recent fabric haul from the Manu’a Store in Tafuna. So excited to be picking up sewing again, slow and steady. Hoping to make more of my own clothing this year, as it’s been my goal to have a fully sustainable versatile and repeat-worthy wardrobe.
My Haul
I personally love the Manu’a Store fabric aisles! These are the fabrics I picked out:
Elastic gold crepe – 4 yards at $1.99/yd — This marigold color has been a recent fave, and I’m obsessed with it! It’s actually one of my main colors for my wedding, along with other favorite colors, green and blue. The crepe isn’t really elastic even though it says it is, but I love how thin this crepe is and the value for the fabric is amazing so I bought the last 4 yards. Thinking about making a dress that I could wear at my wedding party… we’ll see!
Yellow spun rayon – 2 yards at $2.99/yd — I love how soft and flowy rayon is, and this color is a winner. I can’t wait to make something flowy with this.
Gray/black cotton with Polynesian tribal print – 2 yards at $3.99/yd — already have about 2.5 yards of this fabric at home that I used to make seat covers, but needed more to make a matching cover for our papasan chair.
I also bought:
Assorted plastic needles – $1.50 — got this because I’m going to try using them as loop turners, because I’m over using safety pins to thread a loop through. Hopefully this works.
Elastic – 10 yards at $0.40/yd — I avoid buttons and zippers, so I use elastic a lot haha. I also need it to make the seat cover for the papasan chair.
Ian had previously mentioned that our seat covers for the living room chair was getting old and had some water stains we tried washing out but wouldn’t budge. So last weekend, I picked up a few yards of this gray cotton patterned fabric from Manu’a store, and sewed these box cushion covers to update one of our second-hand chairs in the living room (both are secondhand from neighbors).
Because we’ve been using our studio office space primarily as our WFH stations, I set up Sista (my sewing machine) on the kitchen/living room table, and used the floor as my cutting space.
I liked both photos with exposure of inside and outside views. It was a beautiful day, but it was so humid and hot. At a later point, I had to ask Ian to put up a makeshift curtain to keep me shaded.
I was actually in a grumpy mood (probably because it was so hot and I was sweating bullets) when I made these so the covers are sewn quite a bit sloppy and a little too large for the actual cushions, but more importantly it’s functional and still looks nicer than the old covers.
Here’s the completed sewn box cushion covers! I like the color and the pattern a lot, it fits our tiny bright living room space. I have leftover fabric, so will probably make a fitted cover for the circle papasan chair too.
Last weekend, I mustered up all my creative energy and patience and got to work behind my sewing machine to make my own DIY duvet cover. Now if you’re reading this and know where I live, you’re probably wondering to yourself – why the heck would she even have a duvet? Isn’t it disgusting humid in American Samoa most of the year? Welp, yes. BUT if there’s one thing I love more than falling asleep to the sound of this tropical rain, it’s getting all snuggled up under a down feather duvet while it’s absolutely pouring outside. Can you say #hygge? Look it up. Also, I found out the a/c in my room works and it’s changed my life.
SO the past few years I’ve had a naked white duvet. And after many breakfasts in bed, dinner over movie nights, and just general klutziness and spillage, it was time to literally put a sheet over it. I wanted to order a cute minimalistic duvet cover but figured I should change it up, go for a full color/print fabric, and make my own. Ian and I hit Forsgren’s fabric aisle and both agreed on this forest green island-y print cotton fabric.
All in all, I spent a little less than $50 on fabric, and probably something like 6 hours on measuring/cutting/sewing (give or take a couple of hours for in-between breaks haha) since we have a massive cal king-size bed. It was quite an undertaking for me since it’s just such a huge piece, but it was fun and I felt so proud of myself for doing beautiful french seams. Also major props to Ian for keeping me entertained when I needed a break, and I think he cleaned the whole house and like, fixed the car or something, while I did just this!
Anywayyyy- here are photos of me and Office Scruffles taking up the task. Please excuse my sewing outfit and shoes! Comfort for comforters… I’m also writing this at 1am so please bare with me and my sass. Photos by Mr. Ian-credible.
