Made by a Fabricista: There's Navy and Then There's NAVY

I went very bright for my last make so I decided to tone it down with a neutral this month. Navy is a neutral that I lack in my wardrobe as I default to black often so I'm trying to remedy that. The first is a very soft jersey knit with uneven stripes and the second is truly a luxurious wool stretch twill. My plan was to sew a coordinating outfit, but as soon as the fabric arrived I realized that all navy blues aren't created equal. Unfortunately, the two blues were just too different to work together. This was totally my fault as the wool twill description literally states "the darkest navy". Still I love both fabrics so I sewed my original plans, it just seems that these two pieces won't be worn together. Thankfully, I recently purchased this RTW light weight sweater that is a better match to the twill.

Not the best lighting, but trust me they are different.

Let me first tell you about the wool twill suiting, as I am in love with it! Some stretch is a MUST for me in pants and this twill offers four-way stretch thanks to the 5% Lycra content (40% across, 30% lengthwise). The soft feel was the first thing I notice while unboxing and though you can tell it's wool, it's not itchy. I often think heavy and thick when I think wool, but this is the perfect suiting weight. My favorite feature is the drape, which is why I opted for wide leg slacks. Trust me and order yourself a few yards (here). It's in the 70% off category and is a STEAL. The description of "darkest navy", as mentioned above, is accurate as you almost have to hold it up to something black to see that it is in fact blue. I truly wish this was available in multiple colors as I would purchase all of them! I may have to order more for a skirt and/or blazer.

Now let's talk about this simple tee I sewed using Simplicity 8177 (which contains a great tee pattern that is often overlooked). Sewing a tee is pretty simple if you're familiar with working with knits, but matching stripes on a jersey fabric can be tricky. The safest bet to keep the stripes straight is to cut out each piece on a single layer but this would mean tracing the front and back pieces to create a full piece. To avoid that (because I'm lazy) I carefully laid out my fabric and then folded over just enough to cut the front piece before pinning the selvage edge aligning the stripes. This helps to ensure the fabric doesn't slip and it prevents the selvage edge from curling up.

I don't worry so much about matching at the sleeve seam because lining up stripes along a curve is annoying, but look at that side seam!