A Geometric Fielder

After I had made my first Merchant and Mills Fielder Top and an additional project, I pondered what to do with the left overs.  I say pondered but this played on my mind the whole time I was on my New Years camping holiday to the point it bordered on obsession.  It wasn't just the desire to deal with the growing basket of scraps but also more of an awareness in general of using my scraps in a useful way.  

I had already settled on a scrappy Merchant and Mills Fielder Top but was quite disappointed when I returned home to find out I didn't actually have enough fabric, or more accurately, I couldn't cut it out of the lengths I had.  Not to be deterred though, I spent an additional potential sewing day with the pieces on the floor, trying to work through a bit of pattern Tetris in my head.  I very nearly packed the whole thing up and admitted defeat in the name of using my precious annual leave productively, when I had an idea. 

I wondered if I could cut the front into geometric pieces would it fit on the fabric.  With pencil and paper I happily spent an hour butchering my pattern.  More pattern Tetris followed and I was quite disappointed to discover that I still couldn't get the back out in one piece.  My solution to this was a carefully placed seam so as to look intentional.

I have to say, I love the finished top which is usually the case with my scrap projects.  There is nothing more satisfying than creating something out of nothing even if it does mean sacrificing a day of annual leave!  I didn't however need two items in my wardrobe in such distinctive fabric so I graciously gave this one to my daughter who was just starting her first full time job after leaving Uni and needed an entire wardrobe.