Butterick: 5857 (Misses' Top) - Type:Tops  | | Viewed 425 times
| 2 more reviews | Review rated Very Helpful by 8 people | | Reviewed by: | grays08 | 
 | About grays08 | | IL USA | | Member since: 9/13/11 | | Reviews written: 63 | | Sewing skills:Intermediate | | Favored by: 15 people | | patterns reviewed: 62 | | Bio: more... |
| | Posted on: | 2/8/13 10:28 AM | | Last Updated: | 2/13/13 1:06 PM | | Project Photo: |  | | Pattern Photo: | 
Butterick Pattern InfoMore Info provided by grays08 | | Pattern Rating: | Recommend, with Modifications | | See other patterns in this category: Tops | Available for sale on PR: $13.46 (See envelope)  | | | | Fabric: | Poly-Lycra Knit [See other projects in this fabric] | | Related Links | Click on  to add a link |
| UPDATE 02/13/13 - I have now given this a stress test - wore it to a child's birthday party where I chased my two kids around Monkey Joes. It did not fall off my shoulders or come close. There was a little play there but the tacking resolved the issue, so, yeah! = ) I still felt very uncomfortable wearing this as the lower section is rather taut so next time will either make this ruched on sides or make it slightly larger. I will say the elastic at the shoulder works well for wearing it since the shoulder drops off the arm on this top so maybe Butterick was right on with this.
Pattern Description:
Misses' Top: Close-fitting, pullover top has neckline variations, elasticized shoulders and upper sections, and narrow hem. A and B: overlays. B and C: sleeve slits. D: upper sections cut on crosswise grain.
I made view D which is the open slit sleeve, upper back overlay version.
More Pictures:
Back of Top showing Overlay
Another view of Front
Pattern Sizing:
Y(XSmall-Small-Medium), ZZ(Large-XLarge-XXLarge). It is important to note that this is yet another Butterick knit pattern where they fail to provide finished garment measurements any where at least for view D.
I made a medium and normally would sew a 12(38) in knits and 14(40) in wovens. I would say that sizing was fine if not a tad roomy on this for the upper bodice but runs smaller/very fitted on the two lower pieces. If I had to make this again, I would grade out the sizing to be slightly larger on the two bottom pieces and blend it with the top just because I like it to be fitted but not have to worry so much about any bluges anywhere depending on what I may be doing as I wear it. I would recommend to dry-fit the pattern and check since it is just two pattern pieces that go directly under the bustline. In my case, my hip measurement tends to run pattern size 10/12 so I was a little surprised this area was so slim on this pattern for a medium but maybe it's to support the other views (A&B) that have the gathering on the sides.
Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?
It looked like the envelope for the most part and best depicted in the animal print model picture online. I have a bit of disappointment over some of the envelope features not being so "featured" for view D, for example the fullness at the shoulder and gathering underneath the bust both are overshadowed by the construction methods they choose to employ but more on that later in the review.
Were the instructions easy to follow?
Easy to follow - yes, complete for view D - ?, well thought out for design features - probably not.
Instructions are straight-forward, and I didn't find myself puzzled by anything other than why they fail to instruct you to hem the entire neck edge/back overlay. I literally went to baste the back overlay as instructed and realized that they never tell you to hem it but magically picture it hemmed after step 23 which is the step that hems the "overarm opening edge". This to me meant the sleeve slit openings and this is what they pictured but no mention of the neck edge/overlays any where so my assumption is that they also intended that to be done in that step as well without picture or verbage. So, easy enough to correct prior to basting the back overlay, just frustrating and glad I caught it but no big deal. I guess technically the neck is considered over the arm so maybe I just missed the boat on this...LOL!
What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
LIKES -
- The design of view D is nice with the relatively conservative front and open back and the sleeves with their slits and fullness
- The instructions are clear when they do state to do something, no looking at the picture wondering how they got to that point from their verbage
DISLIKES -
- This can be a tricky one with a serger, but I would recommend doing the clipping the seams step first and this makes serging the seams possible and a lot easier to work with.
- I really dislike that there are no finished garment measurements - none for bust, waist or hip. In knits, this completely leaves one guessing as to the liberties that they chose to take with ease and on this pattern it's okay/roomy on top, relatively no ease provided on bottom
- Great design features are overshadowed. I mentioned that the fullness at the shoulder is not as "featured" in the line drawing on the pattern and as Sue mentioned in her review as well. I believe this is because of the method they use which is solely through elastic, attached after the seam is sewn. I think maybe if they were gathers you'd have more finite results since the elastic gathering is very subtle and soft which is okay but a far cry from their representation of it. Also the instructions have you attach elastic to the bodice seam at the end which overshadows the two gathered areas under the bust as it adds a softer wave of fullness all around the bodice seam. Essentially it adds a general bodice gathering on top of those two areas of design which almost just looks messy. I added the bodice elastic because after trying it on, I felt it needed to be cinched in otherwise the upper half seemed to float (even more roomy) on me, but I'm wondering if it would have been better without.
- The instructions/pattern design also make no allocations for the back overlay staying upright (i.e. not falling off your shoulders) which seems inevitable as designed given the fullness and weight of those sleeves (and there's a lot of sleeve), and the width of the neckline design. I used a very lightweight ITY knit but still found the shoulders creeping down continually within the first few minutes of wearing it. I didn't want to add a tie at the neck in the back but if I see this after wearing again (now that I've tacked it down - see pattern alterations section), I will have to. I'm hoping my "hidden" tacking of that upper V allows it to stay upright. I did at least confirm it still allows enough room to get in and out of the garment which is always good to test when adding these last minute design changes. = )
Fabric Used:
A polyester/lycra ITY knit from Fabric Mart Fabrics.
Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:
- I didn't alter the pattern but probably should have graded a little more room on the lower pieces.
- I opted to use clear elastic given where they are having you put it (don't want bulk on shoulders or under bust) and also serged over top of it for comfort and strength purposes
- I ended up tacking over the back overlay at the peak of the V just by sewing the two layers over top of the existing hem stitching (so it didn't stand out) to try and help with the shoulder/drop-off problem
- If I had to make this again, I would try gathers instead of using elastic at the shoulders, using the elastic guide to tell where to stop/start gathers. I think if you just shorten the elastic it would alter the length of the shoulder and sleeve too much, but it's an option as well
- I would make the gathers under the bust more concentrated than they intended because the bodice elastic negates these quite a bit later on
- I changed a lot of the order of instructions mainly to do the hems up front as much as possible before the other stuff and also to accomodate doing the majority on a serger/coverstitch machine
- On all narrow hems, I used Steam-a-Seam to turn it under and then turned again, coverstitching the top but elected to not do a narrow edge hem on the lower bottom hem or the neck edge/back overlay hem, just a coverstitch hem as I didn't want the bulk there.
Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?
This is one of those impromtu sews (instead of sewing the many other things on my priority list) where I made it up, it looks good on a dress form and then I put it on and well, I'm not in love with it. I don't hate it, but I'm just not sure how I feel about it right now. After looking at the pictures for the review I think I'm actually back to liking it but who knows! = ) I think a lot of it will come down to whether the shoulders continue to fall off now that I have tacked it at the back V and whether I can feel comfortable with the occasional bulge being seen from the lower half as I wear it throughout the day. I think the other views of this top are interesting and maybe I'll do one of those, but I don't see doing this one again given my pile o' patterns and Burdas. | Buy this pattern for $13.46 List Price: $17.95 Add to Bag  |
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11 Comments
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I think this is a stunning top. But the shoulder slippage would annoy me too. Hope the tacking works, because you look fantastic in it!
2/8/13 11:22 AM
Your top is really beautiful! Looks great on you, and the fabric is something I would pick up for myself! ;)
2/8/13 4:51 PM
This looks great on you! I had the same issues with slippage on the shoulders and opted to put a tie at the shoulders. I work with young children and I just didn't want to be yanking it up all day long, if you know what I mean!
2/8/13 5:35 PM
Very pretty!
2/8/13 6:38 PM
This is a beautiful top and appears to fit you quite well. I understand the annoyance of a top falling off your shoulders - your fix for that looks like it will work well. Thank you for the thorough review, and please update and let us know if it grows on you and is comfortable to wear with your overlay fix. I hope it grows on you!
2/8/13 9:25 PM
Beautiful! Thanks for the detailed review.
2/8/13 11:40 PM
I would have been dumbfounded with the finishes too. You've done a great job working out this top.
2/9/13 3:09 AM
I've got this one in my lineup...I can only hope it looks half as good as yours does! I think this looks great on you...any slippage can be easily addressed with Hollywood Fashion Tape...you might find you like the top more when it's secured.
2/9/13 10:32 AM
Very pretty top. Love your fabric
2/9/13 10:50 AM
Beautiful top! I have to have this pattern and I'll reference your detailed review as I sew!
2/13/13 1:44 PM
Beautiful top! And great review, too.
2/13/13 3:08 PM