A new jersey top for the New Year!

I bought this John Kaldor fabric in the John Lewis sale recently but I've also seen it online elsewhere. It's a man made fibre, probably polyester, but it's a good weight and has a good amount of stretch. I think I paid £8 a metre and bought 2 metres. I hadn't decided which pattern I was going to use but I just liked the colours and design. That's enough of a reason for me to buy fabric!

You can see I'm wearing my Named Jamie jeans that I FINALLY got around to hemming the day before yesterday. Anyway, back to this top. I was browsing through my patterns and found this one, Simplicity 1463 that I made once before here. About time I made a second time, then! I always take a note of the alterations I make to a pattern and note the size(s) I cut out too so I can recreate/not make the same mistake twice!

This time I added another inch to the length so that's 3" I've added to this pattern. That seems about right as it's drafted for someone 5'6" tall and I'm 5'9". I also made the sleeves longer by cutting the length for the largest size. These tweaks have improved the wearability of this top and I'll keep them for a future version. I'm really happy with this top and I've already worn it once. It's sitting in the washing machine waiting to be washed, so that's a good sign!

I don't make New Year resolutions. Why make changes only at the start of the year when you can make them anytime? It's a good time for reflecting on the past year though, and what you'd like to do in the coming year. I have got a few vague things I want to work on with my sewing. I want to sew something in silk, improve my fitting generally and...I'm going to make a swimsuit in the near future. That'll be a challenge! My trusty Speedo is getting a bit baggy after a year's service so that's a sure sign the lycra has been eaten away by the chlorine and it's on borrowed time. I need a replacement but it takes me ages to find a new swimsuit. I try on about 25 before finding one that has the body length I need. So there's no choice, if it fits, I buy it.

I've already bought the (unfortunately boring black) fabric and powermesh (for the shelf bra) from Edinburgh Fabrics but I didn't buy enough elastic, or the correct width either so until I get back there, the project's on hold. If this swimsuit is wearable and I'm happy to be seen in public wearing it, I'm going to buy some lovely bright, patterned fabric so my instructor is dazzled by the pattern and can't see my swimming mistakes! *deluded*