I want to say I loved making this top, but I can’t. So much went wrong, though I made it work for me in the end. Read on if you want to avoid my mistakes.
Look at this pattern photo. Isn’t she cute and stylish? And I got this pattern half off for 5 bucks!
I will save you the moaning and groaning and just provide a helpful list of tips. I think it was all worth it in the end.
- If using lightweight knit as I did (a thrifted sheet), don’t bother sewing in darts as directed like I did . It made no difference.
- I sewed up a size 20 and got this tent. I ended up taking two inches off the sides.
- Step number 7 says to place the front and back bodice together and stitch the shoulder seam. But they mean the facings not the bodice.
- Step 8 – 9 have you attaching the facing like you would a neck binding but that doesn’t work well for lightweight knits. Instead, I folded the facing in half before sewing it to the shirt. Then flip it to the inside and edgestitch to the neckline.
- Step 14 says to leave a gap where you want the ties to go but how do you know where that is until you try it on! So use a running stitch up the sides, try it on, pin it where you want it, and unpick the side seam, then sew the entire seam up again? Uh uh, I just left out the tie and put it on manually. Once a month I am not gonna wanna “highlight” my waist you know?
So after all this fussing with the side seams, where I had to pick it out cause the layers got bunched when I stitched the new seam line 2 inches in, I didn’t have the patience left to add on the cute petal cuffs or even hem anything. So I didn’t. I think it looks pretty cute!
After all this, I still recommend the pattern. It probably looks best with wovens, though I could not find a single photo on the internet of that. There are shoulder darts, and bust darts and 3 different sleeve styles. For heaven sakes, why did I sew this in Jersey?