I saw this top made up by Carolyn (cmarie on Artisan’s Square) in the SWAP 2007. I thought it looked really nice and wanted to make one for myself. Of course, time elapsed and almost a year later, I finally got around to it.
Dana's Top
from Silhouette Patterns
Pull over top with cross over on front yoke. French darts to add shape to the front of this top. Suggested Fabrics: any stretch fabric, with stretch going around the body. Fabric can be dressy, glittery lycra, or everyday casual cotton knits. All sizes in one envelope. Price is $16 Canadian
There is always some confusion about which size to make in Silhouette Patterns. This is because the sizing is not the same for all patterns. If you look at the measurement chart on the back, it is not always the same. The numbers are finished measurements, therefore they include ease in the garment over and above your body measurements. Therefore a pattern with a bust measurement of 43” will be 43” measured flat across the finished garment. It would never fit someone with a 43” bust. But from pattern to pattern, the sizes change. Size 5W in one style will have different measurements than size 5W in another. So you cannot simply cut the same size regardless of which pattern you are using. With each pattern, you must compare the measurements with your own body and decide which size will give you the best fit. So in one pattern I cut size 5W, in another I cut size 4, in another size 6 and so on.
I was confused with this pattern, because I couldn’t decide between size 6 and 7. I decided to lay the pattern over another pattern that I know fits nicely, the undersweater from the Petite Plus Sweater Set. I’m glad that I did, because I could see right away that size 6 would be snug and size 7, while a little bigger in the underarm, would give a similar fit over the bust and at the waist, which was more important. So size 7 was the choice. Then I took out the front piece marked with a C cup, and got to my cutting.
I took a knit from my stash, which was a white cotton lycra jersey. It was a little thinner than I would have liked, but I figured this was a test garment, so I wasn’t concerned. I followed the pattern instructions exactly and finished the top. When I tried it on, I could see that the overlying front yokes were not lying flat against my chest, but were too big so that they kind of rippled. I had used clear elastic on those edges too, and pulled it a bit, so figured that I needed to alter the pattern. Also the dart came a little too high. Other than that, the top was a good fit. I particularly liked the way it came in at the waist, rather than going out, and this makes it fit snug over the hips. The way current tees do, instead of hanging loose.
Looking at the front yoke, I thought of slashing them and overlapping to eliminate the gaping that I had. But that would change the curve of that yoke and it wouldn’t blend as nicely at the seam to the bottom front. I had already extended the shoulder seam ¾” towards the neck and redrawn the neckline, bringing it back to the original point at the yoke seam. I didn’t want to change that line. So I figured I would use the clear elastic again, but pull it much more this time.
My second attempt at this pattern was in a heavier cotton interlock. Not jersey, but interlock, again cotton with lycra, again in white. Much nicer fabric, with more weight and no transparency - I hate to see bra straps showing.
So the second tee was a little bit changed from the first:
1. longer shoulder seam, bringing it in closer to the neck; this would make the front opening less wide which I found not flattering to my 58 year old neck
2. lower dart point, by ½”
3. pulled in the front neckline more with clear elastic
These alterations, combined with a slightly heavier fabric, made all the difference in the world. This top fits really well, is quite flattering and is a slightly dressier version of a knit top than I usually wear. This one will work very nicely with black pants and a nice coloured scarf tied around the neck would be nice to add some colour.
Dana's Top
- in white cotton/lycra interlock
Back of Dana's Top
- front and back yokes add interest to a plain tee
I am so glad that I decided to rework this pattern. I had thought of just tossing it aside, giving away the tee to the Salvation Army, and going back to my tried and true knit top pattern. But I figured that the changes were not great, and that it would be nice to know if the pattern could be reworked to be more flattering on me. The answer was yes.
I am learning, after all these years of sewing, that one can’t always expect success with the first try. Manufacturers make many test garments before they actually put something into production. So why do I think that my first use of a pattern should be great? If manufacturers have to tweak things to get them better, why do I expect things to be any different for me? It’s not as if I have “designer radar” and can achieve perfection with my first effort.
I emailed Peggy with a pattern order and wrote her about my results with this pattern. Peggy had a reply (she responds very quickly to queries by the way) that I thought would be good to pass along.
” On Dana's top, if you take a dart in the top you made, shortening the neck edge and the end of the dart would be on the seamline, then you will pull the neck edge into your hollow neck. Do you follow? By putting elastic, you are telling me that the neckline is too long, so I am saying instead of elastic, take a dart in the one you made, transfer it to the pattern, then the neck one will be flat against your neck.
You should make a point to never fix pattern problems on the sewing machine. We can if that is all we can do and it has been cut, but that is the great thing about muslins, we can tweak the angles of the pattern, then the real garment does not show the tweakings. We should fix pattern problems on the pattern and the sewing will not reflex the problems. Hope that helps.” Peggy
Since I had quite a bit to pull in, I am going to do this by making a few slashes in the neckline and overlapping the tissue to shorten that edge. Making one dart seems to pull up the yoke seam into a funny curve that I don't think will sew nicely to the bodice front. Peggy agreed that this would be better than a large dart, so that is how I will alter that pattern. The next one may not need clear elastic at all!
About two years ago in Sew News, I read a comment by Anna Zapp. She said that it is the third time using a pattern that gets you to where you want to be. Three times? Most of us don’t have the patience for that, but I can see that she is right. So, perhaps I will be making three garments instead of one. It’s not a waste, if I finish the first two, I can give them away. Goodness knows, there are plenty of women with less than me who would love to get something unused at a used clothing store. And I learn something in the process. And perhaps, it won’t always be three times. This time, it was only twice!
Copyright by Julie Culshaw, November 2007