Custom Made Bolero

I've made a few dresses lately and felt I was missing the one garment that would compliment them while keeping me warm as we transition through spring into summer.  Introducing the little black bolero!

This is a bit of a mis-mash of patterns.  First I started with the Sewaholic Renfrew which forms the base of the garment.  I reduced the length of the front and back pieces to 15.5" from base of neck to waist.  Then I took McCalls 5006 to shape the front,  which I had previously used to make THIS tie front cardie.  Lastly I used the band technique from the Papercut Patterns Circle Top I made HERE and HERE

I inserted the sleeves flat, just 'cos it's easier, then whipped the machine up the side and sleeve on both sides.

I flat measured the curved edges of the front, the bottom edge of the back and the neckline to determine how long to cut the band.  This is applied as you would bias tape.

I cut the Renfew in a size 4.  I removed 2" from the middle of the front, as I didn't want the fronts to meet but to just sit over my bust.  I made this with a cotton lycra, which I had bought to make multiple Renfrew's for the winter to wear under stuff as an extra layer - but didn't actually get there.  So the fabric still made it to a Renfrew but just not as initially planned.

I'm pretty happy with this.  Next time I want to make it in a lovely NZ merino but will re-draft with some adjustments:  cut a size 6 Renfrew, lengthen the shoulder seam toward the neck which will also give me more height in the back neck and front high chest, so it has just a little more coverage.  I think another 3/4" would do the trick!

I can see many more of these versatile little babies being made in a range of colours :-)   Far quicker to make one of these than actually use my knitting needles (sad to say).

More photos on my Flickr -->