I bought a few old patterns on esty a few years ago when I had very few patterns except Burda magazines. And over the years I don't think I have sewn any of them. Then last fall I've seen Alpine Queen make this top for the final Bee round and I thought what a cute top that is and later realized that I have this pattern and decided I will make that "soon". But soon became a long time ... It is an 80s pattern Vogue 9683 with jacket, skirt and top:
The pattern pieces are rather simple : the back and back facings are in 1 piece ( it buttons up in the back) ; both front panels are the same ( I expected the under panel to not have gatherings...)
It all looked rather simple until I decided to highlight the seam lines with piping... and without thinking of anything that could go wrong apart from being to tight I pressed my fabric pieces and basted all the piping to the edges...
Then when I wanted to finally attach my front facing supersize the facings was 5 cm shorter .. That's how much my neck line modified with pressing and piping !!! Rip everything !!! Panic !!! Rip some more. Hand sew to gather the neckline back in place and finally save the neckline.
Then rip the princess seams and gather it a bit too but unfortunately not enough... It wasn't until the top was almost finished that I realized the side seam was still longer then it should have been so it was not straight but winding. At this point it would have been easier to make a new top then rip that seam again.... But I liked my top and I didn't want to just give up just yet. So I ripped my shoulder seam and wandered if I can save something there. Then I had this bright idea to pull the cord inside piping until my seam was finally in place. That fixed almost everything except the wrinkles there are now on the fabric that covered the cord...
Apart from all my issues I love my top. It fits me so well. The princess seams from the shoulder in the front and some really deep darts in the back give this a really nice shape. So I will probably make more and I will skip the back closing. I thought it would be cute to have the full band of buttons in the back but they are hardly noticeable and they are not actually necessary and a bit uncomfortable while sitting against a rigid backrest.
And then a newer pattern - Butterick 6426 - that I think I got at the end of last year thinking to make the cardigan and change a bit from all my McCall's. I will probably need some cold weather in the fall to do that but I thought I will test the top pattern first:
I think it is interesting to see the shoulder princesses seam and back darts in a more modern pattern. I did view C with the hem line from view B:
I looks quite OK exempt for the shoulders that needs to be taken in a bit. It might be the fabric but I find this second one really boring. Even if this is stretchy jersey I think the 1st top fits better. I cut the front panel on bias to add a bit of contrast by changing the dots direction but still very much boring... I hole how the design lines how in neon effect:
Back to keeping score this 2 tops and the 2 pieces outfit from my previous post make for the 2 fabric I just bought the other day. So I am in the same place 141 debt...
I love your orange blouse :) Also your other tops are very nice! Great job!!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Ellen!
DeleteThe prints you choose are perfect. I love the piping.
ReplyDelete