OK, so I’ve made a top. Simple, fairly plain, unexciting even? but I’m totally happy with it anyway. Hard to see in the photo above, but the front and back neckbands have little golden swirls, twirling and tumbling sinuously around it. Screen-printed by me!
The neckbands are of pale grey silk/linen from Fabulous Fabrics, and the remainder of the top is made using a pale sand-coloured cotton-linen from Spotlight, the leftovers from after I cut out the pieces for my giant polka-dot dress.
I used the pattern for top 136B from Burdastyle magazine 07/12. Sam gave this mag to me for Christmas last year, but this is the very first thing I’ve made from it (oops!) No matter, I reckon Burdastyle patterns never really go outta style 🙂 When planning my top I knew exactly what I wanted; a pull-over loose top with a big wide neckband for screen-printing, and either a wrap-front or something to define the waist. I searched through, only like every single one of my patterns, the lines of this one leapt out as pretty close to the vision I had in my head.
Technical blah-dy blah: I have to confess that while stylistically the design was perfect, technically it was far from a perfect fabric/pattern match: the pattern was designed to be tight for stretch knits and came graded for Plus sizes 44-52 only; and I wanted “loose” in a woven and I generally go with a 38. But I reckoned it could work; those factors have the opposite effect to each other so it’s like they cancel each other out right? It was worth a try, anyway. I’ve never let fabric inappropriateness get in the way of my creative vision! and was pretty sure it would be OK.
I traced a size 44 and just cut my pieces with quite big seams allowances, plus a touch extra at three areas just in case: the underarm points on the front and back, around the widest part of the sleeves, and with extra width at the hips; essentially, the places where you might expect extra ease would be required. Basted the pieces together and tried it on, ensuring the raglan seams matched the notches on the neckband pieces as a set-in-stone point of reference and just made a few little adjustments in and out and here and there to some seams. I reckon it turned out OK!
The waist ties are meant to be attached inside the centre neckband seam, from the top to the bottom of the seam, which means that not only would it have covered up part of my print, but when you wrap it around your waist it would have dragged the V-neck right down, thus rendering it a very cleavage-tastic top indeed. How it is, is quite cleavage-y enough for me already, thanks! Burdastyle’s coy description is “Impossible to ignore!” Ahem, so I sewed mine on further down, only just covering the very lowest tip of the neckband.
The neckline is a flatteringly wide portrait neckline, which means that my bra straps are showing. But I’m cool with that, since I just happen to have a bra with straps that just about perfectly colour-match this top. Now is that good wardrobe planning, or what?! I reckon they just look like little camisole straps.
And; I have a pair of new flat sandals for summer! these gorgeous cheerful bright coral sandals are going to pep up my wardrobe so nicely! They are practically neon!
Details:
Top; Burdastyle magazine 07/2012, 136B modified, with neckband screen-printed by me here
Skirt; Vogue 1247 modified, ivory curtaining fabric, details here and my review of this pattern here
Sandals; c/o Misano
