I have recently been doing LOTS of sewing for a charity store where I volunteer as a seamstress & these two upcycled vintage scarf halter tops were made using instructions in an original 1940s Smart Accessories booklet in the Vogue Knit series of publications. The black halter top was made from a plain vintage silk scarf & I added a 1950s brooch (I stitched a small section of lingerie foam onto the backof the V neck to support it); the Rome halter top is made from a vintage acetate souvenir scarf with satin ribbons stitched to waistline & neckline. In fact, I have been sewing so many upcycled scarf projects lately that I realise I absolutely MUST buy an overlocker before too long as it is so difficult neatening the edges of silky scarves … I am going to the Sewing for Pleasure show at the NEC in Birmingham next weekend & will be checking out the various brands xx More of my vintage sewing projects on my blog here
Tag: halter top
My latest creation is using a modern pattern (c.2007) but my fabric is something my Mom bought to make clothes for me when I was a little girl. I think I had a shirt made out of this same fabric when I was three or four, so I’m guessing this fabric is close to 30 years old. Its a bright, sunny yellow with tiny strawberry vines and blue and white flowers all over it. Here’s a close-up of it.
The pattern I used was Butterick’s 5011, view A. Its a simple halter top that ties behind the neck, has ties to go around the back of the waist, and just pulls on over your head. Construction was really simple, but I did run into an issue at the end which required me to rip out some stitches and make some changes. You can head over to my sewing blog and read more about it there.
Here’s the finished shirt, with my dog showing her approval.
There’s more photos on my blog.
Here’s a bustier/ bra top I made yesterday from Simplicity 3250. I made it from a 50 cent remnant of luxury satin, found in the $1 bin at my favourite fabric store!
Very comfortable to wear, it’s a one way stretch satin. I thought I’d be clever and sew the 2 ends together at the neck, saving me another set of buttons to wrangle with. The significance of those buttons becomes clear when putting the bustier on – it’s OK, I just have to get hubby to do me up at the back!
Anyway, it was a fun project.
