the True Bias Sutton top is pretty rad

I had always planned to make another Sutton!  I loved my first one (hrm, actually it is the second!) made from a silk remnant, but I eventually gave it away because I wasn't wearing it enough and I just love giving clothes away.  When I made it, I felt like you need an overlocker to do this pattern justice and get a really beautiful clean finish.  The centre front seam doesn't work particularly well with a French seam.  I loved the fit on me in the silk.  So I planned to eventually make another one, but it was one of those ideas hanging out in the background.  Before going to Tahiti I decided to use this beautiful scant metre of Japanese fabric to make one for my friend R.  I love this fabric but I don't think the colours suit me. I had tried to fit many dresses onto the piece, but it was just too small.  

 So here it is: size 2, and with the same modifications as previously, I guess! I really thought I had not modified it at all...but I had completely forgotten about my first version of the top, and on the second I commented about the dots not matching up.  I am using the same pattern pieces as before, so I guess I must have shortened it, and it's possible that I shortened the front more than the back.  Now, of course, since I did use the overlocker I probably didn't even notice those dots on the pattern.  Looking back over the versions, this really does better with a very floppy fabric like silk.

 I was a tiny bit lazy about the back pleat since it's not for me...

 

This confirmed my desire to make one for myself.  I have a designer voile waiting, and a lightweight silk cotton that I think will be a good underlining, and I have a scrap of rayon as well - not sure I need two versions of this top, but it's a really fun, satisfying make, and it doesn't take much yardage.  Now it's the depths of winter and I'm not too rushed to make these but as we get towards spring I will probably actually do it!

True Bias Sutton tee in silk

This is the second Sutton top I've made.  Here is the first.

Still a size 2, and this time I shortened it 2 cm.  Er, I definitely shortened the front, anyway, but more on that later.  As I mentioned on version 1, the size chart would have me make a size 4 and I sized down because I don't like things too oversized.

The fabric is a silk charmeuse remnant from The Fabric Store in Auckland.  I immediately know I'd use it for this pattern.  I thought the combination would be low key and just perfect and I was right.  I love it and I've been wearing it a lot.

(These pants are my very first Sewaholic Thurlow trousers.  They are now more like boyfriend jeans because I have lost weight.)


This pattern is really top notch and I enjoyed it the second time around as much as the first.  It's a pain to finish the side seams on a silk top without a serger - I used a zig zag which creates kind of a mess, but I think it is stable, at least and won't fray.  And I can keep pining for a serger! The rest of the seams are done as french seams and I took my time and did a lot of ironing for once.

So I got around to the bottoms and noticed with some suspicion that all my dots on the back were about 2 cm lower than on the front, so I think somehow I didn't shorten it properly.  To make up for this I used the front (shorter) dots as the main ones and I ended up folding the back hem up one time extra.  The silk didn't like this and it is a bit messy on the inside, but the outside looks fine, and it makes a heavier hem which is nice. 

True Bias Sutton tee in Versace

I have been looking for something to do with this fabric, a white rayon (?) with silver strands woven in, by Versace, for a long time. It's a lot shinier than I usually go for...it's from Casa dei Tessuti in Firenze and after browsing everything they had, it was one of the few things that seemed both fun and wasn't too expensive.

Initially I thought it had some stretch and wanted to make a Mission tank, but it really doesn't.  So finally I realised it's light and drapey enough to match the Sutton pattern - another thing I've had kicking around for about 2 years!

I cut a size 2, sizing down as my measurements would put me at a 4. This type of top is not something I like too baggy.

The Sutton pattern was a joy - with instructions that surprised me but produced an excellent result. I am really pleased with the clean finish.  The french seams sometimes seemed silly on this fabric, which looked very unlikely to unravel, but you can't go wrong with french seams so I carried on.  The pattern has you first finish the side seams and then sew them together as a prep for the side vent, and this is yet another spot where I wished for a serger.  That's basically my mantra lately.  I want a serger!!

I like the result more than I expected (I find the fabric kind of too outrageous.  I think.) It's quite scratchy but I like the fit, although I might shorten the body of a next version by just one inch.  This fabric had a little too much body and so it sticks out over the shoulders, but not too dramatically.   There will be more versions of this top!