Firstly a big apology for posting my August Scrap Happy a day late. I got confused and thought today was the 15th! Sorry!

It seems ages ago now – although it was really only a few weeks ago, the UK was experiencing a warm dry summer.

Most summers I barely get out of my sweater, so I consequently don’t have an extensive collection of sleeveless tops. However with this year’s hot spell, I discovered myself in need of more sleeveless tops. Since I’ve decided to work on my rusty sewing skills, I decided to make a few.

I chose a pattern that didn’t look too taxing…

I dug through my fabric stash and happened upon the remains of the double width fabric I brought for the back of my floral quilt….

Eyeing them up, I wondered if there was enough for a sleeveless top. Then I made my first error: I washed the fabric and put it aside because I needed to finish my quilt for entry into our village produce show.

I didn’t finish the quilt until this week, when the weather had take a decided turn for the worse.

Unperturbed I checked my fabric remains to find I was half an inch short.  But what’s half an inch in the length of a top? It’s not like I’m six foot tall and might possibly need to add length to the pattern – on hold on, yes I am.

After measuring various tops in my wardrobe, I decided I could stand the loss of half an inch.

Having cut the fabric, I made my second error – I didn’t have any soft interfacing and, since this was a Scrap Happy project, I could hardly go buying new materials. So I used a medium I already had weight instead.

The project didn’t take long to complete.

It would have taken even less time if I hadn’t sew the back armhole faces to each other – twice!

Having put the facings on, it became quite clear I shouldn’t have used such thick interfacing – oh hold, I already knew that. I’d just chosen to ignore it.

I top stitched around the neck and the armholes in an attempt help it lie better and although it’s okay and wearable for around the house and dog walking, it’s definitely not my best work.

Still, it’s free top made from scraps…

And I reckon there’s still enough left over to make a second top slightly different sleeveless top – but maybe next year.

If you like the idea of using your scraps (of anything, not just fabric) click on Kate or Gun(first two names in the list  below) and join us on the 15th of every month – or just those months you feel like joining in.  Here’s a list of both frequent and occasional Scraphappiers (?) if you want to see what everybody else is doing.

Kate,  Gun, Titti, Heléne, Eva, Sue, Nanette, Lynn , Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy, Debbierose, Tracy, Jill, Claire, Jan, Karen,
Moira, Sandra, Linda, Chris, Nancy, Alys, Kerry, Claire, Jean, Johanna,
Joanne, Jon, Hayley, Dawn, Gwen, Connie, Bekki, Pauline and Sue L.