Did you know that Made by Rae‘s Spring Top Sewalong is wrapping up this week?  Several years ago, I sewed a top for myself every day of Spring Top Week.  How did I possibly have the time?  My schedule has definitely filled up since then.

I really, really wanted to sew something for myself before the sew-along wrapped up, though.  I had some of Patty Young’s Heaven and Helsinki stretch jersey hanging out in my stash, just waiting to be turned into something wearable.  I needed a quick pattern, so I turned to the Casual Lady from Go To Patterns. (I love that all proceeds from the sale of the pattern go to support She’s Worth It. If you haven’t checked out their fundraising project, please take a minute to read and consider joining them in the fight against human trafficking.) I started cutting my fabric at 6:30 while my amazing husband prepared dinner. (I’m only spoiled a little.) I stopped for about 30 minutes to eat dinner with the family, and I was done with this top by 8:00! Amazing!
The pattern is simple and straight-forward, and it’s such a nice-fitting top!  The only little problem I had was that my lining wouldn’t stay inside nicely around the neckline, and I used a solid so it needed to. I topstitched the neckline to make it stay put, but then the whole neckline folded itself out. Urgh. I realized that I’d probably stitched too close to the edge, so I sewed a second line 1/4″ in (my original was at 1/8″), and that took care of that! Yay! I’m not usually one to wear sleeveless tops, but this one feels like it has sleeves because of the way it curves around and shapes to your shoulder.  I think it looks like it has a cap sleeve, even though it really doesn’t.  Pretty cool, huh?

My 15-year-old, Samantha, did such a nice job of taking pictures for me, didn’t she? She just kept snapping while I tried different poses. I think this picture just might be my favorite. “Jamie! You cannot hide behind me while we’re taking pictures!” Ha! When I want him in a picture, I nearly have to bribe him!

The finalists for Spring Top Week are posted at Made by Rae, and they are amazing! I love all the ruffles and gathers. Obviously I didn’t finish this tunic in time for the contest, but I did finish it! That’s at least a start, right?

The pattern is Kwik Sew 3162 and the fabric is Anna Maria Horner Little Folks Voile. The pattern was really easy to follow. The only real modification I made was the hem on the sleeves. I just added a simple band to finish them at 3/4 length. Anna Maria Horner’s Voile is amazing. It’s really easy to work with and has the perfect feel and drape for clothing.

Spring Top Week at Made by Rae is coming soon! I had so much fun sewing tops for me during last year’s challenge. You can check out my blog posts about the five tops I made here: Spring Tops 2009.

With a new baby this year, I’m definitely not planning to sew that many tops! I’m aiming for just one. I’ve been wanting a tunic-style top, so I ordered Kwik Sew 3162 from Sew Thankful. And, I’ve been drooling over Anna Maria Horner’s new voile fabrics: Little Folks Voile. Don’t you think they would go perfectly with that pattern? Hmmm . . .

Anyone else have something planned or in the works for Spring Top Week?

The last of my Spring Top Week projects–I finished this one a little late to enter it into the actual challenge, and now I wish I’d done it earlier . I was so afraid of that silly zipper (this was my first zipper), and it ended up being so easy! I feel a little ridiculous now that I was so afraid of sewing in a zipper! Yes, Shelly, you told me so . . . The fabric is organic cotton/lycra french terry that I bought from The Fabric Fairy with this hoodie in mind. I used the Favorite Things Hoodie pattern, but I made a few adjustments to get it to fit well. The major adjustments were narrowing it across the shoulders and tapering and extending the sleeves.

Unzipped

Zipped (The zipper works!)

Back

Whew! That was a busy week of sewing, but it was a lot of fun!

Thursday’s top is a tunic style made from New Look #6179. It’s sewn from a cotton woven fabric making it different from the knit tops that I normally wear, but I like it! I went by the measurements on the back of the pattern rather than the RTW size that I normally wear. I would normally purchase a size 10, but measurements had me make a size 12 in this pattern, and it fits really nicely. I did add some length to it because I like longer shirts, but I failed to flare the bottom enough and had to cut off some of my added length so that it would fit at the hips. Overall, I’m happy with it–I think I’d like to try making another one from cotton jersey!

Closeup of the pretty design on the fabric:

Today’s top is another Emmy modification. This time I curved the bodice and pushed all the gathers to the middle. I really like the look that it has this way! I also narrowed the width across the chest and shoulders, so it fits me better than yesterday’s top. This one if my favorite so far.

I made today’s top by enlarging my own Emmy Shirt Pattern. I’ve been thinking about trying the pattern out for myself for awhile.   I’ve had a few mamas mention that it would be a cute grown-up top, too.  There are a few things that I’ll change the next time I sew it, but overall I really like it.  The cotton interlock makes it super comfy, and I love the color.

Edited on 5/29 to add: I decided overnight that I really didn’t like the way the sleeves fit on this shirt, so I made some modifications, and I’m much happier with it now!

 

 I’ve really been wanting to sew some things for me lately, so I thought I’d jump into Made by Rae’s Spring Top Week Sewalong. For this first top, I followed Rae’s Spring Ruffle Top Tutorial at the Sew Mama Sew Blog, although I did modify it a little by adding cute elasticized sleeves. I really like the result. I think I’ll be making more of these!