I had to be careful with fabric as my sleeve mod used more fabric than the pattern originally intended. I layed out the front and back bodice pieces in the following layout to have enough fabric remaining to cut out the sleeves.

Final:

Size - Same as mentioned above.

For the final I used the polkadot mustard double gauze fabric from Minerva. As you can see from the photo, this fabric is quite prone to wrinkling.

I had to think upfront about how I wanted to approach the texture of the fabric. I have sewn with double gauze before but the previous fabric that I used did not have this much texture. I needed to commit upfront if I wanted to iron the fabric every time I wear the top or embrace the wrinkles and leave the fabric un-ironed.

Before sewing, if I ironed the fabric flat, cut out the pattern pieces and then decided later I liked the wrinkles, the garment would be smaller than I intended. The same issue would occur if I went the other way. If I left the fabric wrinkled, cut out and sewed the top,and I decided later to wear it wrinkled, then it would be much bigger than I intended.

I decided to go with leaving the fabric wrinkled/not ironed. I love the texture of the open weave in this fabric. I felt like the texture in this fabric is quite unique so I thought it would be fun to highlight the texture. I left the fabric wrinkled as I cut out the top. As I sewed the top, I ironed each seam but I threw the finished top in the wash (to bring back the texture).

Bust Darts:

I tried a “new to me” technique for hand basting the bust darts in place. I’ve tried tailor's tacks a few times to mark sewing notations on garments. I haven’t loved my execution of tailor's tacks so I have wanted to keep coming back to this technique.

I found this really helpful video tutorial from Threads Magazine for how to hand baste bust dart seams. I followed the video and decided to mark the baste lines with the pattern. With this technique, you baste the bust dart seam with thread. You then pull the thread and then have a handy sewing line to sew the final bust dart on the machine.

I decided to pull the end of the bust dart thread through to the wrong side of the fabric so that I could reference the final dart tip. I tied the tails of the bust dart in place and was quite happy with the finished result for this “new to me technique.” I will definitely use this technique over tailor’s tacks in the future (for darts).

Bodice:

For the bias binding at the neckline, I did not want to have the binding show on the right side of the fabric (as written in the pattern). I picked a viscose, pre-made bias binding by Atelier Brunette from Minerva (to match the drape of the double gauze). I didn’t want to hand make bias binding with the double gauze. In hindsight I wish I would have picked a single fold bias tape instead of a double fold. When I have used this technique in the past for necklines, I have liked the flatness and less bulky option of a single fold bias tape to enclose the neckline on the wrong side. The result with my top is a little bulkier than I would have liked (that is just me being picky).

To finish the cross back feature on the top I did not finish the edges with bias tape. Instead I used a tape adhesive and folded over the fabric twice. This helped to stabilize the seam but also quickly enclosed the raw edges of the fabric.

Continued in my next post…

#minervamakes #minervamakers #isew #memade #memades #sewing #sewist #sewists #sewinginspo #sewinginspiration #sew #sewcialist #sewingproject #sewingprojects #sewingideas #sewingprojectideas #sewingpatterninspo #lovesewing #ilovesewing #sewsewsew #sewersgonnasew #makersgonnamake #sewaholic #sewaholics #shareyoursewing #sewinglove #handmadewardrobe #handemadeclothes #isewmyclothes #diyclothes #dressmaking #fabricinspo #seamstress #memadeeveryday #imakemyclothes #imakemyownclothes #fashion #fashioninspo #memadewardrobe #memadefashion #diyfashion #diywardrobe #fashionsewing #indiepatterns #indiesewingpatterns #breakingthepattern #breakingthepatternbook #breakingthepatternsade #breakingthepatternsadeblouse #sade #sadeblouse #namedpatterns #namedclothingpaterns #namedsadeblouse #sewingtops #sewingblouses #mustard #sewingwithgauze #sewingwithdoublegauze #gauzesewingprojects #doublegauzesewingprojects