Sew along complete!

Posts in this series:

1. Sewing from Japanese Craft books - what you will need and an overview
2. Sizing and figuring out the instruction page
3. Tracing out the pattern pieces 
4.  Sewing the garment
5. Making adjustments

I've been busy sewing this week, putting together my top for the sew along. It all went as planned, as per my rough version.

As I always do with this voile now, when I first cut the pieces out, I labelled which was the right side (and whether it was the front or back as they were quite similar) as it's quite hard to tell apart especially in poor light. This time round I managed to get the sleeves on the right way round, first time. Good to see I am learning by my mistakes.

I was thinking of using bias binding in a contrast colour on the raw edge of the neck facing, but didn't in the end as it would have been a bit too bulky. I ironed on light-weight interfacing to the fabric which made the edge quite stable. I also top stitched the facing on the right side to the seam allowance to stop it from rolling out when being worn.

I am really pleased with the end result. I love the pleats around the top, although I do regret centering the pattern  as it means I get a perfect mirror effect down the centre, when something a little less structured would have been better.

The one detail that still bothered me was the sleeves. They seemed a little out of proportion with the top, I think I will at some point hem them a little shorter and maybe play with the pleats to make them lie flatter. I would like some cap sleeves like the ones on my hunting and gathering top from Les Couleurs Francaises. More my kind of sleeve.

I like the idea of making one of the dress variations of this pattern. Like the one on the cover.

So that is it - sew along over. I hope you found it useful and managed to make something or have bookmarked this for a future project. Do send me pics of anything you make as I'd love to feature them here. Happy sewing!