Vogue 8817 and color guard uniforms!

Late this summer, my dear husband asked why I don't stretch my sewing skills and sew things other than for myself.  Yes, I looked at him with shock and disbelief...I wondered why?  I have unselfish sewing jags once in a while, but I hadn't done a lot of sewing from scratch for others.  Maybe, just maybe he had a point...

Next came a request from a friend at work.  Would I consider making color guard tops for a small school district?  There could be up to 12 girls.  I had to think about it for a bit but decided the challenge was worth it--at least I hoped!

Here is the pattern we used: Vogue 8817, a pattern by Katherine Tilton.

I had previously made this tunic and knew what I was getting into.  It's fun to put together and the fabric really makes it fun.  Also, it is easy to fit!  The band director and I found suitable fabric at JoAnn's that seemed to be decent quality and was on sale!

The two reds we used were both performance fabrics that ironically 'performed' well!  The only suitable black was actually a swimsuit fabric that worked well enough.

I ended up taking lots of measurements of each young lady and a photo so I could try and see if I had any sort of fitting issues.  After tracing off each pattern, I cut and basted the tops together and then the fit was adjusted once on their bodies.  I believe in order for this top to look 'right' it must fit through the shoulders and bustline.  The rest of the garment is designed with plenty of ease and is very forgiving!

The photo I included shows the tops before I hemmed them all and made some last minute fitting adjustments.  I will update the photo once I get one with everyone in action.  

Sewing for other definitely stretched my sewing skills and it really was a lot of fun!

Thanks for reading!

Update:
Here are the lovely young ladies in action.  Can I mention again that I am very proud of this project!


Sue