Pattern Description: easy (yes, really!) top for wovens with 6 variations of necklines and sleeves. The bust darts and waistline darts (front and back) allow for a lot of fitting adjustments. I made View A, with 3/4 sleeves
Pattern Sizing: 8-18, all in one envelope. The finished garment bust measurement is in the instructions, and is pretty accurate. I made a size 12; narrowed the shoulders & widened the waist & hips (usual adjustments for me)
Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Pretty much, except for my changes
Were the instructions easy to follow? Very easy, very detailed, very thorough.
What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I love the simplicity of the lines in the pattern, and the fact that it's so easy to make fitting adjustments. For someone like me, who is not attracted to bows and frills, it's easy to pass over this pattern, but I picked it up some time ago for some reason, and I am SO glad I did!
Fabric Used: A very fray prone cotton and/or rayon combo fabric with nylon sheer bits.
Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: Because of the sheer bits in my fabric, I didn't want to have a neckline facing, so I made a bias binding instead. Others have mentioned issues with the facing that is called for, so I'll probably use the binding method in future iterations, no matter what the fabric. For me, the neckline as is might be a bit too wide at the shoulders once the normal 5/8" SA is eliminated. If your shoulders are narrow, or if you have a small torso, you may want to add some fabric at the neckline.
I also eliminated the waistline darts, again because of the sheer parts of my fabric - I didn't want to darts to scream out "Hello! I'm a dart!" I often cut down the sleeve cap to eliminate some of the ease; I did so on this pattern, but not by too much. And I shortened the length by a couple of inches.
Other alterations are usual for me - forward, narrow, sloping shoulders.
I discovered a new (to me) alteration for a gaping neckline - I'm thrilled about this one, and detailed it in this blog post
Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? I will definitely sew this again - I'll use the waist darts for a more fitted look and may try it in a stretch woven or a knit. This could easily become a TNT for me, and I highly recommend it for the ease of fitting alterations. 
Conclusion: Pictures and a few more details can be found
here on my blog Come on over! |
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Adorable on you! Love your fabric.
12/4/12 9:17 PM
Lovely top. What a great pattern. This one is definitely going on my wish list. Thanks for the review.
12/4/12 9:33 PM
Your version is wonderful. I'm looking forward to making this one soon.
12/4/12 9:40 PM
You chose a perfect, simple design to showcase that very interesting fabric. Love it!
12/4/12 10:42 PM
What a winner!!
12/5/12 7:47 AM
Lovely! Great fabric :)
12/5/12 8:35 AM
You look happy! What a great combination.
12/5/12 8:52 AM
Great top-I like the simplicity of the design, and the way it skims over your figure. Terrific fabric also.
12/5/12 9:18 AM
Jilly, I didn't give that pattern a second glance because of the wide neckline and the bow, but I love your version. Thanks for the gaping neckline help, I'll definitely be putting that to use. And best of luck with your kitty, if only we could speak their language...
12/5/12 9:51 AM
What a terrific fit you achieved with the neckline adjustment and what a pretty top in that print. Super job! It looks great on you.
12/5/12 11:51 AM
Love your top! Thanks for the how-to on fixing the gaping neckline, and I'm glad you are feeling better and able to sew again :)
12/5/12 8:10 PM
Your new top looks wonderful on you. You did a fantastic job of fitting the neckline. So sorry about the cat bite. I hope you fully recover soon. Enjoy wearing your pretty top. I love the changes you made to the pattern.
12/5/12 9:28 PM
Really cute, Jillian. I love the 3/4 length sleeves and their flirty floaty little hem!
12/6/12 7:25 AM
Thank you for the lovely comments, everyone! I'm very happy with this top :)
12/6/12 4:21 PM
Thank you for the gaping neckline tip. I have that problem too. My question is now that the side is a 1/4" longer (front pattern), do you add 1/4" to the back pattern to make it match in length?
2/18/13 0:43 AM
Good point karen! I believe that in this case I evened it out at the armscye by removing that 1/4" from the front piece. Depending on how the armscye fits, that would be the logical place (imho) to adjust, by either adding to the back or subtracting from the front.
2/18/13 7:18 PM
I've researched this a bit and one tutorial said to add it to an existing bust dart but it seems like that would make it a bigger cup size. I think a little experimentation might be called for.
2/18/13 11:58 PM