Finished Project: Hummingbirds!

Hey look, I made a couple of Hummingbirds!  Uh...way back in late June.  Better late than never, eh?  Heh.

I believe I already told you guys I was making this pattern up in this fuglovey fabric here.  And oh how I love it!  Especially the look on my boyfriend's face every time I wear it. 

Details:
Cake's Hummingbird (green version)
Straight size 40
Skirt size 40s
No modifications other than the peplum

Sadly, it's a little bit too large, because I should've cut a smaller size for the back.  You can see some of the extra fabric in the pic above (in my failed attempt to spin the skirt).  See that large fold of fabric?  Oh well, I don't care.

Since my fabric was directional I cut the peplum in two pieces, with a seam along the sides to keep the "up" direction on the front and back (otherwise it'd be upside-down at the back).  The side seam doesn't even show up.

I did have to topstitch every single seam here, because my fabric is vintage 70's polyester and doesn't take to ironing at all.  The plus side is that you could mash this thing into the bottom of your suitcase under a bunch of other crap, and it'll come out crisp and unwrinkled.  The negative side is that it's so. damn. hot. ugh.

And then I sewed another one!  This one is out of a mystery knit sent to me by a friend from her old fabric collection.  It's a lighter-weight, finely-ribbed cotton something-or-other.  I suspect there's a small amount of poly in it because it resists wrinkling, but it's still more breathable.

I modified this version by cutting the back in size 35 and modifying the shoulders of the size 40 front to align with the back.  I also lowered the neckline a bit by judging how much lower I wanted it in my Fuglovely Hummingbird and just cutting it out.  I didn't take into consideration that this fabric is stretchier, and I should've made it a bit higher, but it makes my boyfriend happy!  I might add a mock dicky (is there such thing?  Isn't a dicky already a mock of something?) if it really bothers me.

Love at first twirl!

Since this fabric doesn't fray or roll at all, I embraced my inner lazy sewist and didn't bother hemming the peplum skirt.  Actually, I might still trim the skirt a bit, I think it's a bit too long, looking at these photos.

Heh, despite using a non-directional fabric, I cut the peplum in two pieces again anyways because I managed to eek this top out of less than 1 m of tubed knit fabric.  YAY!

Ignore the weird bump on my butt - it's a rogue belt loop. :)

The only thing that I'm not happy with in this version is the waistline seam.  It poofs out a bit in this fabric, an makes me more self-conscious of my tummy.  Well, my recent weight gain makes me self-concious of my tummy, this just makes me notice it more!  lol  Once I dig this top out of the laundry (it's been a constant in my wardrobe) and feel up to sewing again, I'll probably take in the side seams a bit, since it's still a little loose at the waist, and then try to fuse the seam down so that it lies flat.

You'd think that two great tops would be enough of a reward for the sewalong, but then my house, the Sabrewing House managed to sew the most amount of garments, and we won!!!  Way to go Sabrewing House, and all the other talented sewists in other houses!  It was so much fun to sew with everyone!

If you're still uncertain about this pattern, you should go and check out the sewalong board on flickr.  So many fantastic garments, and even some hybrids of Hummingbird and Tiramisu!