Warm Weather Dressing

I had a job interview today and the weather was so warm (34 degrees Celsius) and I needed a professional looking top that was cool to wear. So I made this top, McCall's 5977, today:





McCall's 5977

Pattern Description:
Pullover tops A, B, C, D have neck and armhole bindings and stitched hem; top A has two layers of pleated front ruffles; top B has three tiers of front ruffles; top C has cascading front ruffle; top D has neck ruffle and short drapey sleeves.
I made view A.

Pattern Sizing:
A5 (6-8-10-12-14), EE (14-16-18-20). I made a size 8 and graded to a 14 at the hips.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?
Yes.

Were the instructions easy to follow?
Yes but I didn't really need to follow them. It's a pretty simple top to make.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
I liked that is so simple but looked stylish because of the ruffles.

Fabric Used:
100% cotton Swiss Dot with woven checks.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:
I only used one layer of ruffle instead of two. I bound the neckline and armholes differently than suggested in the instructions. For the neckline binding I used a cotton knit that I ironed so that it looked like double fold bias tape and just sandwiched the bodice between it. And for the armholes I used packaged bias tape and I just unfolded one side, sewed this side to the armholes, flipped it to the inside and then stitched it down. This way the binding isn't seen.



Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?
I will be sewing it again but another view. I would definitely recommend it to others.

Conclusion:
Great pattern that is simple but looks good.

My Ella Moss Knit Top

I finished my version of the Ella Moss top and it was very easy to do.
I did use different colours for my top. Instead of black I used a navy fabric and the accent colours are obviously different too. Here is a picture of me wearing the top.



New Look 6702Pattern Description:
Misses' Knit Tops

Pattern Sizing:
6-16. I made size 6 (size 16 at the hips for more material, see below) though by my measurements I should have made a size 10. I find the commercial pattern companies have a lot of ease so I went down a couple of sizes. This way there was zero ease. The pattern was supposed to have 1 1/2" of ease.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?Yes and no. It has the same silhouette mostly but I made some changes.

Were the instructions easy to follow?For the most part. The instructions for the twist were a little vague and I wasn't sure I was doing it properly but it turned out ok.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
I liked the pattern because it was almost the same as my inspiration top. It was going to be very easy to adjust it.

Fabric Used:
Cotton lycra knits from Fabricville.

Pattern Alterations or any design changes you made:
I changed the sleeves to 3/4 and went out to the size 16 at the hip to give some more flow to the skirt pieces. I changed the back to have an empire waist with gathers. I added 2 1/2" to the lower back piece to give it the gathers. Here is a lightened photo of the finished back so you can see the details.


For the lower front, I split the pattern into three pattern pieces instead of one.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?
This is a very easy pattern that looks quite cute. The twist seems a little daunting but turns out ok. This pattern worked quite well for me.

Ella Moss Anthropolgie Knit Top

I was browsing on the Anthropolgie website looking for sewing ideas and found this awesome top by Ella Moss.

I decided that I could recreate this top because earlier that day I had just picked up by chance the New Look pattern # 6702. (I wasn't planning on getting this pattern and only bought it because it was in a bin of discounted patterns.) it had the exact same lines as the Ella Moss top except the sleeves, which are easy to adjust. It seemed that fate wants me to make this top. I hope to have some time tomorrow to work on it because I only have one class and my boyfriend is hanging out with his friends tomorrow night.