1st project of 2009 - McCall 5629

Although this project was cut in 2008, finishing it took a back seat to last minute Christmas presents. Jan 1st, I had some time to kill, so I pulled it to the forefront, and told myself to finish it already.

Fabric: Ah, how I love this fabric. Its some kind of synthetic, but it feels very soft and touchable. My aunt bought me the fabric from India (I love fabric presents!) I think all my relatives are very, very afraid I'm going to steal their saris, and are buying me fabric in an effort to keep me out of their closets.


(Live action shot - actually showing the colors of the fabric. So pretty!)

Pattern: McCall 5629. There's only 1 other review of this on PatternReview, and I'm convinced the reason is the TERRIBLE pattern photo. I'm sorry, the photo makes the top look shapeless and simply horrible.

If I didn't have an RTW top that has similar lines, and that fits me well, I would have never either bought the pattern, or made it up.

Pattern adjustments: I adjusted the heck out of this pattern to try to ensure the top fitted me, and I didn't look pregnant.

1. Since it was apparent this was not a fitted top, I went down a size. My normal McCall size is a 10 on top, I went down to an 8.

2. Did my usual petite-sizing, which involves taking 2 inches at torso (helpfully marked by the pattern lines. I also wanted this top to hit at my hip, so I cut length on the hem till it did so.

3. The biggest piece of alteration was to get the pattern to be more fitted. According to the finished garment measurements, the lower edge width of this top is 52 inches. Whoa! Sensing complete shapelessness, I took 2 inches of width off the bottom from each piece. This results in a total of 8 inches taken off, leading to the much more manageable finished edge width of 44 inches.

There also appeared to be too much ease at bust, so I (rather daringly) took 1 inch off the armsycle, 4 inches total. Since I'd adjusted the armsycle, I also adjusted the sleeve to take some width off.

See the diagram below - its easier to see what I did this way. My changes are in pink.



Notions: 3 black buttons, from stash.

Cost: Well, the fabric was a gift. The notions and pattern was from stash, so we'll call this a free top. More usefully though, the fabric sells for about $1 a meter, and I used about 2 meters. The buttons cost $1. I would have paid either $1.99 or $0.99 for the pattern, since I only buy patterns when they are on sale. Total cost therefore, $5, approximately.

Time taken: 3-4 hours? Wasn't keeping very close track, since I was also cleaning and watching TV at the same time.

Good things:

1. Did I say I love the fabric? I love the fabric.
2. I also love that I don't look pregnant, thanks to the alternations I made.
3. It went together fairly quickly.
4. The instructions have you form the casing out of the yoke and the yoke facing, which is pretty clever.


(Ties left undone - sexy!)

Bad things:
1. My own fault, but if I had stopped to do the math, I'd have realized that subtracting 4 inches from a finished bust size of 37 would lead to 33 - which is my bust size. No bust ease, which causes the yoke to ride up a bit. The busy print thankfully conceals most of this, but I know its there.
2. I think the tie is too thick. I like skinny ties.
3. How puffy are these sleeves? I was actually going for the view C, the flutter sleeves, till I set in the sleeves and realized they looked RIDICULOUS. Doing a quick save, I inserted some elastic to gather them instead. But, too puffy. And I even took 2 inches off the width. Way too puffy.

The grand conclusion? I'll reach for this top a lot. It has some flaws, but its easy to wear, the color works on me, and I love the fabric.