Ever since I saw this tutorial on Sew Mama Sew I’ve been wanting to try it and I bought this fabric a couple weeks ago but never got around to making it until today.
The instructions are clear, concise and come with quite a few pictures. I skipped the arm divots and pockets as unecessary and the ruffles so that I could wear the top with a cardigan for work.
Skills needed: pleats and edge stitching
The pleats are simple but you may want to practice edge stitching pleats on a scrap piece of fabric. This design element is front and center on your top so if you mess up it will unfortunately be very obvious.
All told this took about an hour and I did get stuck once. The instructions for attaching the chest band and body of the top don’t come with accompanying pictures so here is what I did.
I lined up the raw edges of the body and the unfolded edge of the chest band (remember in step 3 you folded down one side of the chest band 1/4 inch and ironed it) and stiched a 3/8in seam.
Press the seam towards the chest band and it will look like this.
Now fold the chest band in half and bring the 1/4 in folded edge to the inside of the top like this.
Sew along this edge, remember this stitch will catch both sides of the chest band, the body of the top and be visible on the outside. I used my 1/4 inch foot as a guide.
I didn’t bother to determine where my straps were going to go until after trying the top on and ultimately decided to make the back straps come in to the center. I would recommend doing it this way so that you know how the straps will ultimately look and lie on you before sewing.
I think it adds a little interest and helps me to remember which side is the front!
Her instructions for attaching the straps were a bit weird as well. I thought just stitching where the straps were attached to the band looked wierd so I pinned the straps on and then top stitched around the entire top of the chest band securing the straps in the process.
And the last change I made was to the straps, I omitted ruffles or bais tape so I folded the straps in half, right sides together, stitched a 1/4 in seam along the raw edges and then turned it right side out- to easy.
For not a lot of work I really like the result.
It’s really pretty on you, and I love the fabric that you chose!
wow fabulous fabric choice!
it looks great!
it looks adorable. i love your choice in fabrics especially.
I love those fabrics too! Thanks for showing those additional steps; I’m not actually not sure why those didn’t make it into the final version… (: Oops!
Also I agree it’s easier to put the straps on at the end (but you can only do that if you’re skipping the armpit divots).
Awesome job – it looks FAB!!
I made divots even though I didn’t figure out the straps until later. Oh well, live and learn. I have a question about wearing this. When I wear it, the front seems to be about an inch shorter than the back. Any thoughts on how to fix this or should I just hem it so the back is shorter too?
Well this may be a bit intrusive but how busty are you? That may be why its higher in the front than the back. If you lay it flat and the straps are even on the front and back and the hem is even all around then I would imagine that’s the problem. I would leave it be but that’s me.
Haha… I’m not busty at all! I used to be a 36A but since I had my baby, I grew a cup size. I’m going to lay the garment down like you suggested and look at the straps. Thanks for the suggestion! p.s. I’ve been trying to complete this for almost a month! I am probably the slowest sewer this side of town.
that is very nice ! I love your fabric choice !
I came across your site via whipup. I wish I would have seen this before I started my top. I did it backwards. ๐ Oh well, it still looks ok. I love your fabric!
Thank you so much for this. I’m a novice sewer really and this was my first item of clothing and thought it would be simple enough, I even did the Buttercup bag and was so pleased with myself I had to make a matching top lol! But the instructions at Sew Mama Sew were so frustrating, I didn’t have a clue! I followed your advice on the straps because I really didn’t understand it at all, and for attaching the band ๐
Made a complete pigs ear of it and it’s far from perfect… but it’s wearable and I’m chuffed LOL!