Itch to Stitch Seychelles Top

 This is my first experience with Itch to Stitch and it won't be the last. They recently came out with a new dress pattern (with a new release discount) that I liked, but wasn't sure about purchasing because I have a big stack of Burda magazines where I could probably find something to recreate it with and ItS was an unknown. Then I remembered that I already had their Seychelles top to make up and evaluate.

Seychelles is somewhat like a woven T top, with an interesting shoulder detail. I'm always on the lookout for things like that because they balance out my figure. The armscyes of Seychelles are cut in somewhat, and the sleeve cap is pleated. Other than that, it has a straightforward darted bodice and faced V neck. The pattern has separate front pieces for each cup size.

Step 1 was figuring out what size to use. The instructions walk you through this, and they had me in a 10 with the C front. I'm normally a 14-16-or even 18 in top sizes and a size 10 seemed crazy to me. The instructions also say to make a muslin (always good advice) so you can be sure I did, expecting them to be proved wrong.

It seems that size 10 was correct!😲 There did need to be a couple of adjustments, but they were easy. I needed to lower the bust dart 1-3/8", widen the sleeve, and widen the hip. The sleeve and hip changes were accomplished just by blending out to one of the larger sizes. I should also mention that the top is meant to be fairly long and I shortened it quite a bit.

 The dart was relocated like this (note: this diagram is from a different pattern):

draw a line through the dart point, parallel to the grainline

Draw a box around the dart, cut it out, and slide it straight down the amount needed

true up your cutting lines (green) 

This is the way my pattern piece looked after the alteration. You can see that I also needed to add extra at the hip.

This method preserves the original angle of the dart. 

The top is really straightforward sewing. The only fiddly part is making the pleats on the sleeves, but look how cute they are. The instructions cover everything, with links to online help.

The fabric is from Miss Matatabi and is the weight of a lawn.

I'm delighted with the way this top fits and feels. So yes, I did go back and buy the dress pattern I wanted, on the last day of the sale!

New Look 6449 tank

This is a great wardrobe builder pattern if it fits you. It includes a knit shift dress (sleeves or sleeveless) and a woven shirt dress with optional tabs for rolling up the cuff. Both easy to shorten for a knit top and shirt. 

I didn't have any experience with New Look, but liked the look of the knit dress. It has good shoulder coverage and almost a wide shallow neckline. 

The pattern pieces for the front and the back are the same for both the sleeved and sleeveless versions. This wasn't a total surprise, since it seems like most? all? of the big 4 patterns now create their sleeveless versions by simply leaving the sleeves off. That's really an argument for searching out vintage versions of classics like a plain knit top. In my recollection (I've been sewing over 50 years) you would get different pattern pieces for sleeveless versions.

And that's why I used some leftover knit to make up a test garment and make alterations. There was enough gaping in the armhole that it would have been unwearable. Applying the sleeve band helped a little, but not enough.

Here's the alteration: 

Slash from the front notch to the vicinity of the bust point (I drew the red circles so I could avoid getting a flower on my apex) and from that point to the hem. The test garment showed that I needed to pinch out 3/4 inch at the armhole, and doing that opened up the hem line quite a bit. I did need a little extra at the hip, but not the total amount, so I made another slash from the underarm to the first slash and pivoted the hem in about half of the distance. 

The altered pattern. Hard to see the changes...

for clarity: the red lines show closing a wedge at the armhole and spreading at the hem. The second slash in green let me pivot the hemline back in to reduce some of the spread.

Here is the finished top on. I really do like the neckline. It's nice and wide, almost like a boat neck, but it doesn't show my bra straps. I also like the shoulder coverage. 

It takes only a yard of fabric, so I can indulge in all kinds of cute knits. This one is an Art Gallery cotton lycra. It is a very nice weight and feels good to wear. Some knits can be sewn with a regular foot and microtex needle, but for this I needed the walking foot and stretch needle.

I love having TNTs of basics, and this is a good one to have. Ready for spring!

BurdaPlus 1.2023 #402 Dress

Here is a loose shirtdress from Burda. There are two views of this same basic pattern included in the magazine. One, the dress version, has a collar and stand. The shorter tunic version, has a neck facing turned to the outside. Both have long sleeves with cuffs and placket, and a tab to keep them in place when rolled up. Darted bodice, gathered skirt.

This dress was made because I didn't have enough of the brussels washer fabric to make the pants that were planned. There very nearly wasn't enough to make the dress, either, but I think the elbow length sleeves that I had to compromise on are a better choice for my climate.

The big news with this dress is that I tried a new-to-me alteration and it worked! I had made this pattern up before using just the bodice pieces as a shirt for a wearable muslin. Unfortunately, the shirt rode to the back and needed frequent pulling on the front to keep it sitting where it should. In the past, I've tried to solve that problem with all kinds of variations of forward shoulder adjustments that were never fully successful. 

Doing some research, I came across some old topics on Pattern Review that dealt with the issue. Some of the members said that their solution was to add to the back neckline.My test shirt shoulder seams for this pattern sat in the correct place when I first put the shirt on, or after I gave it a good yank to get it back into position. This made me think that the neck alteration would be a good one to try.

So here's what I did: slash from the curve in the back neckline to the curve of the armscye, and spread at the neckline. I spread 3/8 inch. This change means that the neckline facing/collar stand also need to be adjusted to match.

Yes, it worked! This dress sits nicely on my shoulders and doesn't want to move at all. It's a good day when you learn something so useful!

Other changes - I badly miscalculated on the fabric (for about a third time, ugh) and only had enough left to cut one of the front button bands. However, in the stash I had some rayon denim that, although it was not an exact match, toned in very well with the main fabric. In fact, I think having just that little bit of contrast makes the dress more interesting than it would have been. I made the facing and the button bands out of the contrast fabric. 

If I had realized I was going to be using contrast fabric for the trim when I was doing the breast pockets, I would have made top bands on the pockets out of the contrast. They were already completed, though, and the additional cuteness wasn't enough to make me want to unpick and re-do them.

Burda's instructions actually have you sew the shoulder seams, then sew on the facing (wrong sides together) and then turn the facing to the right side of the garment. Doing it that way would allow the exposed shoulder seam allowance to poke out at the neckline. Instead, I sewed the shoulder seams right sides together (towards the neckline) until the point where the edge of the facing would fall, clipped the seam allowance at that point, and then flipped the seam around to sew the rest of the way wrong sides together. That way, the shoulder seam allowances are enclosed under the facing and the inside looks like this.

I neatened up the serger threads later...

I shortened the sleeves to elbow length and finished them off with a stitched down cuff. Buttons were from a grab bag from Califabrics.

The dress has a cute shirt tail hem.

That's it for this dress. I have a number of dresses now that have gathered skirts on them. They sure are easy to fit, but for now I will try to diversify a bit and find some shift dresses or different types of skirts.

Spring is almost here! Happy spring to everyone.