Tie - top take two

Sitting here and flicking here between take one and take two, there doesn't look like much difference between the two. But this top is a much better fit, it's not too big at the sides and I have added roughly 5" to the length so there is absolutely no risk of me accidentally flashing my stomach, ever.

I ended up dropping 2 sizes, so this is a size "9" incase anyone else is using this book. Next time I make something from a new book I will take a bit more trouble to measure myself and compare it to the chart rather than ploughing straight in with the first size that takes my fancy.

One area where I will try and tweak the pattern is at the front, it has a bit too much fabric in the centre, if you look closely in the picture, you can see it's pinned. This might have something to do with the next line being unfinished as it will have bias binding on the final version. I think even with that it may bag too much, so I am going to take about 1cm off at the top and hope it turns out ok. I did this on my pattern cutting course dress to stop the scoop neck gaping and it worked out.

The plan is this weekend to make the top up and wear it, i'll let you know how it turns out.

Tie - top take one

I have finished my first draft of the tie-top from 'Les Couleurs Francaises'. It's a really simple top and as I wasn't doing any finishing on this rough version, it was really quick to sew up. I'm so glad I did this version as it's way too big, I need about an inch off at the sides and in the middle, you can see the neckline folding in the picture. I suspect I have made it one if not two sizes too big.

Looking at the pattern, going one size down should take off enough at the sides, I think it's safer to use the pattern than try and adjust this one which is too big all over.

I LOVE this top though. I wasn't sure if the neck line would be too high for me, and was prepared to lower it a bit, but the long scoop works really well and I like the gathers too at the bust. As I suspected it is a bit too short for me, I blogged about my size 26 back a while back and I'll be adding 2 or 3 inches to the length of this. Also I am loving the top in this duvet cover fabric, maybe i'll start a new trend, remember - you read about it here first.