Thursday 21 November 2013

Sewaholic Alma

This was a pending project for quite awhile.  I finally figured I should stop dithering as it was a very very quick piece to make.  I wasn't interested in any details - just wanted a nice shell top.  It came together in about 2 hours, although that's because I didn't have to put in the zip (more on that in a second.)






My fabric was a cotton with lycra - quite a bit of stretch, that I got as a remainder.
I didn't do any belt or neckline decoration.
In fact, now that I've figured out how to properly understitch, my facings stayed in place pretty well.  However I would totally be keen to do this in a lighter weight fabric with some self bias tape.

I cut a size 4 and didn't taper at the hips.  I thought a bit of flare would be quite nice on this piece.  I shortened it by 1 inch at the waist, and added 1 inch width at the shoulders.  I think I'm getting the hang of the basic changes that suit me.  As a reference, I'm short (5'4") and square, about 34 1/2, 27, 37 and with abnormally wide shoulders.  This top isn't form fitting.  I'd probably use the same size for a material without stretch, but in a stretch fabric I could take out some at the seams (but then I'd need that zip.)

The construction was simple and I just pinked the seams, so it was very quick.  As it got time to put in the zip, I discovered something unexpected - I did a Taracat!!  She is renowned for never needing zips, but because of my wide shoulders and weird in-dress claustrophobia (I have been stuck in things!  Seriously!)  I never expected it to happen to me.  That was extra delightful and probably took an hour off construction.  I am still putting off learning how to use my new invisible zip foot.

The shaped hem is a particularly nice design feature.  I'm extra happy for my Polly top now, because the instructions for the Polly are very detailed regarding these shaped hems.  They have you make a line of stitching (I used 1/4" here) and then trim all the curves after you iron that up at the stitch line.  It's simple then to just fold it over one more time, making a perfect curving hem.  Otherwise I think I would have made a mess of it. 

2 comments:

  1. Very cute! :-) Nice to know it's a quick make - I've had the Alma loitering near the top of my sewing queue for a while now, seeing your pretty one may just give me the push I needed to finally get around to making mine up! ;-)

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    1. Thanks! Of course I didn't add the neck details or belt - but I'd say it's a great one to easily clean off the queue, and very multipurpose!

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