Put a Bow on It!

Mr. Cation and I just recently started watching Portlandia, and we've been giggling madly at how spot-on it is when it comes to mocking trends. Their "We Can Pickle That!" and "Put a Bird on It!" sketches had us in stitches, especially since we just went to a cool new sandwich place that had pickled eggs and cauliflower, and I don't need to tell you how many items on Etsy have birds or feathers on them. Anyway, I noticed while browsing ModCloth for sewing inspiration that bows are the next big thing. Or maybe they're already over and I don't know it. At any rate, I wanted to try making a top with an ostentatiously large bow, kind of like this top or this top. Also huge right now (or recently, at least) is pink with black accents. Well, I had this salmon-colored knit fabric from my third sewing project ever that needed to be salvaged, as well as some leftover black knit after my Ariadne tunic. Perfect!

So, in possibly the second trendiest sewing project I've ever done (here's the first), I present my Put a Bow on It! Librarian Top -- because for some reason, it seemed vaguely like something a librarian would wear? Don't ask how that made sense in my head.

I had to use Machine of Death as my book to offset the sweetness of the top.
Excellent book, by the way, and available as a free download to boot!

My friend Emily got me this sticker, which is pretty much perfect.

My best angry librarian face. DON'T DOG-EAR THE PAGES OR BREAK THE SPINE OF ANY OF MY BOOKS,
OR ELSE I'LL DOG YOUR EAR AND BREAK YOUR SPINE.

Grabbing a book minifig from the top shelf. And yes, if you've been wondering about that Lego set on top of the bookcase, that is in fact the completed Helm's Deep!

I was so glad to be able to use up this fabric. I had just enough leftover to cut the body of the top, and the sleeves were cut from the original, failed top. I also barely managed to squeeze all the binding out of the remains of the black knit, so that's some ultra stash-busting right there. The pattern is my not-a-Renfrew, and the bow is just a rectangle that's been gathered in the middle by a tube of fabric. I tacked it down at the corners and center, and thankfully the pink is stable enough and the black is light enough that it doesn't get weighed down at the neckline.

Ahh, doesn't that look so much better than my previous attempt?

This very feminine top goes nicely with all the black and dark gray RTW skirts in my closet, although I like it best with this one because of the equally girly lace at the hem!

Better yet, that lace is detachable! I suppose I could sew up a skirt that utilizes it, but I really don't need any more black skirts. Unless it's a circle skirt, but then the lace wouldn't fit that hem anyway.

It's still a little warm to wear sleeves and a non-breathing skirt right now, though, so I'll be saving this outfit for Real Autumn, which, knowing California, probably won't be until November!

Apparently, autumn is approaching from the direction of the kitchen.

Have you succumbed and put birds on things yet? Would you wear such an ostentatiously large bow?