I finished another top for the Pattern Challenge!  I’ve been having too much fun sewing clothes for myself, I’m worried I might turn into the Selfish Seamstress!!

Does anyone recognize that fabric?  It’s the ever lovely and luscious Liberty of London in Dunvina.  I purchased it when I was in London at Shaukat Fabrics (they have a humongous stock of gorgeous Liberty prints at the best prices I’ve seen, you can order them online).  I only purchased 3/4 metre, which was just enough to make the body/sleeves of this top.  I had originally envisioned the collar made out of the same fabric, but alas, I ran out.  Instead a used a beautiful cotton/sateen by Robert Kaufman.

I used the basic top and sleeve pattern from…you guessed it….Simplicity 2599 (are you guys majorly sick of this yet?) and added a self-drafted peter pan collar.  The collar is the sweetest accent and it was so much fun to make!

I used this method for attaching the peter pan collar, and it worked out perfectly!  If you do decide to use that tutorial, the one part that confused me was what width of bias tape to cut.  In the tutorial she says to use a 1.5″ folded bias strip, which I took to mean cut a strip 1.5″ and fold it in half.  This leaves you with a 3/4″ bias strip, which is fine, but when you go to sew it on you’ll need to use a about 1/4″ seam allowance in order to have enough to fold to the back and topstitch (rather than the 1/2″ seam she instructs you to use).  Other than that one point of confusion, the tutorial was great!

To give this top some shape I used elastic thread to shirr 3 rows under the bust.

I love that the inside looks as finished as the outside with serged raw edges and the bias tape cover around the neck.  It also doesn’t hurt that there really isn’t a wrong side to this fabric!

Oh my, wouldn’t this make the sweetest dress?

Filed under: Creations, Pattern Challenge | 9 Comments »

Pattern:  McCall’s M6044
View:  E
Size:  Cut between a Medium and Large (yes, you can do that!)
Fabric:  3 yards homespun plaid from Joanns ($3.99/yard)

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?  Yes, very much so!

Were the instructions easy to follow?  I actually thought the instructions and techniques were very simple to follow.  Even those tricky looking parts like the collar and cuffs turned out to be quite easy.  Usually when I make a pattern there is at least one part that I get tripped up on, but this one didn’t have that.  Every step was clearly explained and pictured, making the construction of this top a breeze.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?  I wasn’t too crazy with how much hand sewing there was (back of the collar, both sides of the button yoke).  The inside didn’t turn out as nice looking as the outside since I had to try to hide my seams by hand sewing the lining over them. 

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:  The only change I made was to use metal snaps rather than buttons/buttonholes.  This was a huge time saver!  Plus, I wanted this shirt to have that 70s/western flair, which these “pearl”-covered snaps helped to achieve.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?  I am already making plans to sew this again!  This time I’ll let my hubby pick out the fabrics (I bought this plaid fabric on a whim and thankfully, he liked it!).  I’m thinking one that’s a little bit more dressy (maybe a black on black stripe).

Conclusion:  I highly recommend this pattern!  And don’t be afraid to cut between sizes if you need to.  My hubby didn’t measure perfectly as a medium or large so I just eyeballed my cutting line right between the two sizes and it worked out perfectly.  He loved the fit so I don’t think I’ll have to do anything differently next time.  This pattern also makes it super easy to adjust for arm length and shirt length, so if your man doesn’t normally fit in RTW (ready to wear) shirts, you might consider making a muslin first to adjust for a great fit.  Remember, the sleeves pieces will seem very short, but the cuffs add a good 3″ or so to the over length of the sleeve.  

Here’s the happy customer: 

Thanks to Alicia from Posy Gets Cozy for inspiring this!!

Filed under: Creations, Pattern Challenge | 11 Comments »