Sewing: Round Yoke Tops with Pants

My mom doesn't believe me, but to this day, I remember a white round yoke dress with red trim and embroidery she made for me when I was three or four.

I've never attempted a Round Yoke until now, but have always had a fascination for it. One of the skirts my mom got for Ana was a candidate for alteration and I decided to use it for my maiden attempt.

The fabric for the skirt was wonderful, even though I didn't care for the print and colors. However, as with most ready-made clothes I've received as gifts from India, the fit was less than ideal - the waist was just big enough to fit a newborn while the rest of it was big enough to fit a five year old!

My first thought was to take out the elastic and put in an adjustable-waist one like I've doctored the others before. Now, this would be a 5 minute job if it was a simple elastic casing holding the tight-fitting elastic - simply rip a couple of seams, pull out the elastic and thread in a new one and sew the ripped seam back. Good as new.

However, as with most ready-made clothes, for a nice fit and look, the elastic was sewed down with several parallel rows of stitches making it a Herculean task to simply rip the seams off to take out the offending elastic. So, since the skirt was long enough, I decided to just cut out the elastic waist-band part entirely and make my own adjustable-waist with a simple casing.

After I did that major cut, I realized what a prime candidate this piece was for trying something new, considering that I really didn't want to add to the bulging wardrobe of home-made skirts... well, not exactly bulging, but, she has about 7 lovely skirts for everyday wear and I think that's plenty.

Anyway, that's how this round yoke tops came about.

Didn't use any store-bought pattern, but, drafted one up for myself with the used easel paper that's aplenty at home. Found a yard of tan corduroy from my stash that I had bought on sale a while back to make pants for Og and thought it would add a nice contrast to this soft and flowing fabric.

The round yoke collar is held together with sturdy Velcro™ at the shoulders so it is easy-on, easy-off for Ana. The pants have adjustable-waist elastic and to keep up the vintage theme, they are pedal-pusher style - minus the cuff.

Did I mention I don't care much for the colors or the print of the fabric?! Other than that, Satisfaction-wise, this outfit is definitely in the top five clothes I have sewn so far this summer.