FO: Fairy Tale Sailor Top

Guys, life is a crazy business. You can be going along thinking one things and then BOOM something else turns out to be your reality and you have to adjust accordingly. It's happened to me a few times before, but I guess I got a little comfortable this time because it's kept me reeling for months now. I've had the pictures done for this post for over a month, but I just could never bring myself to focus on it enough to write anything to go with it. Today I decided to write this post more as a personal will power exercise. SO while this technically isn't anything you haven't seen before, I've gotta start back somewhere, right? Here we go.

This is yet another Sailor Top by Fancy Tiger Crafts courtesy of my Creativebug subscription. I've been planning on making this pattern with this fabric for probably over a year now and I decided it would be a good first project in my new sewing room in my new house. The fabric is an Amy Butler cotton voile called Fairy Tale in the Pistachio colorway from the Alchemy line. I picked this up as a 1.60 yard remnant at The Sewing Studio so many years ago that I don't know when. Maybe 2012 or so? I didn't think about this fabric for this project until I made my other cotton voile version. That shirt is so breezy and comfortable and I knew I had to make more.

With all my other versions of this pattern, I've got making it down to a science, and this includes gathering at the neckline.  This shirt has my same forward shoulder adjustment and hollow chest adjustment I did on the Botany voile top so it lays wonderfully on my shoulders.

The one change I made was to curve out the bottom front hem - my previous versions tend to ride up there and it was suggested to me by another sewist that it could be because I need a full bust adjustment and that I could compensate by just adding a little length. It's not totally perfect, but it's much better than my other versions.

And the back view - it's not actually this wrinkly just standing, but I took these pictures after wearing this top out for the first time (scandalous! I never do that) so these wrinkles are courtesy of my several hours of riding in the car that day. 

Another simple but thrilling change I made to this version - I finally remembered to add a ribbon tag to mark the back of the top! It's a little annoying on my other versions to line up the shoulder seams to see which side dips lower to know if I'm looking at the front or the back. Now I can tell at a glance :)

And this was a lovely shirt to wear on my annual Sewing Studio pilgrimage. for their 4th of July fabric sale. I took the fabric back to the source, as it were.

My lovely mom came with me this time and we had a very nice day together buying fabric :) I'm really glad I finally made up this top and that this fabric is no longer languishing in a tub in my closet. And while life is nothing like a fairy tale right now, this fabric definitely lives up to its name. It's such a buttery soft and breezy thing to wear in the horrific heat of Florida summers. Yay for some new clothes at long last!

Summary:
Fabric: 1.67 yards Fairy Tale Cotton Voile for Alchemy by Amy Butler in Pistachio - $5.50
Pattern: Sailor Top by Fancy Tiger Crafts via Creativebug
Notions: Thread - $0.50
Time: 3 hours
Total Cost: $ 6.00

FO: Botany Voile Sailor Top

This is a case of falling in love with a fabric and then figuring out what to do with it, lol. When I was at The Sewing Studio in July, I saw this beautiful line of cotton voiles from Windham Fabric's Botany line - there were 3 different similar designs with different background colors. I figured the white background would fit in my wardrobe best, so I bought 2 yards to make a top with it. After finding the burgundy twill fabric I used to make my Melissa skirt a month or so later, I figured this fabric would look great with that on the bottom, so I pulled this out and deliberated over what top to make. I entertained several designs I hadn't tried before, but knowing I wanted the fabric to be the star of the show and already knowing I could make it fit well, I went with my tried-and-true Sailor Top by Fancy Tiger Crafts (courtesy of the Creativebug class).

I knew I wanted this specific outfit, but it took me months to have the time to make these pieces up. Originally I planned to wear the top tucked in like shown above, but after my issues with the burgundy skirt I wore the top untucked and I really liked how it looked :) So this is all a win. I finished both of these pieces in time to wear the outfit to a shower my family threw for me (more on that soon) and I wore my spanking new Kate Spade silver metallic leather Keds (and I'm a total old lady because I bought a silver metallic leather watch band to match my shoes, lol). I really liked this outfit since it was all new (a novel thing for me anymore) and exactly what I wanted to wear. Don't you love when that happens?

But back to the top. Having made this pattern 2 other times, I've tweaked a few things each time. This time I knew I wanted to add a 1" forward head adjustment to my already added 1/2" hollow chest adjustment. My last version was made in a quilting cotton, which really exaggerated the issue that the shoulder seam was 1" too far back. After a panicked moment before closing up the neckband facing and thinking it wouldn't fit, I powered through and I can say that the fit is spot on for me :) My neckband doesn't gape or slide around to show my bra straps, but it's not restricting. I've finally got it!

So my only niggle would be that my side seams dip downward to a slight point - I'm really not sure why this happens on me, but it happens on most all of my shirts. It always looks fine on the pattern and the seams line up fine, so it must be something about my body that I need to adjust for. That will be my next puzzle to solve, I guess.

I'm really happy with the fit on the back even :) My hair covers it, but it is slightly poufy where it gathers to the yoke, so again that's super particular but on a simple top like this why not try to get it right? This is the first time I haven't had wrinkling in the upper back on this shirt and I'm really happy with it.

Here it is tucked in like I originally thought I wanted. The shirt itself looks great tucked in, so I will definitely be wearing it like this with other skirts. The voile is crisp and breathable, but still soft for the gathers and tucking in. I think it will soften even more with a few more washes. It's just the best fabric, lol.

But this is how I wore it on the first day, and on each day since. It's funny - this fabric was a little more of a splurge than I usually justify, but it was such nice quality and such a pretty print. When I was deciding what pattern to use, I thought of this pattern first but it felt like it was too simple for such nice fabric, lol. Silly how our brains work, right? Because this pattern was really perfect for this fabric and I'm so pleased with the results.

Summary:
Fabric: 2 yards Botany Full Bloom in White cotton voile by Windham fabrics - $16.05
Pattern: Sailor Top by Fancy Tiger Crafts via Creativebug
Notions: thread - $1.50
Time:
Total Cost: $ 17.55

FO: Lotta Jansdotter Sailor Top

So after my Memorial Day Weekend Sewing Extravaganza, I thought I wouldn't have any further time to sew before I needed to move. My house was under contract, so I figured I would be packing everything up, but some snags came up pretty soon that left us in a weird limbo. And then I got sick. I had a virus that turned into a chest infection and bronchitis :/ So while I wanted very much to be productive, I didn't have any definites on my moving situation, plus I just didn't have much energy and would fall into horrible coughing fits if I exerted myself much. What to do when you can't do responsible things you should be doing? Why not sew something, right?

This is my second version of the Sailor Top from the Fancy Tiger Crafts Creativebug Class. This pattern is seriously so simple, but I love my first version and wear it all the time. I bought this Lotta Jansdotter print quilting cotton in January at The Sewing Studio with this shirt in mind. I actually bought it to wear with another fabric I bought, but we will talk about that in my next post. This fabric is called Faril and it has acid green/yellow butterflies on it.

My first version was in a drapey Swiss dot cotton, but they say in the class that it works great for quilting cotton, so I decided to give it a try. I've generally found I'm not a fan of wearing quilting cotton - much to the chagrin of my previous self who bought tons of the stuff to make clothing with over the years. It's just a bit stiff and thick for Florida summer. I don't mind it in winter at all, but that's only like 1 month of the year. Anyway, this pattern is a raglan top that gathers into the neck yoke. The sleeves have a simple facing for the hem, and I love how it makes the top stitching deeper into the sleeve as this echos the yoke and hem.

The only adjustment I made this time was to shorten the neck yoke by 1/2" as a hollow chest adjustment. My first version goes out a bit far and sometimes shows my bra, so I just wanted to fix that. In this stiffer fabric though I can see other adjustments I need to make. Most notably is that I need a major forward shoulder adjustment. I need to move the shoulder seam forward almost an inch, so while I don't love this back photo I'm wondering how much of my back fit issues are caused by the need of this adjustment. I'll have to try it out on my next version and see what a difference that makes.

It also doesn't look so bad when it's untucked, oddly enough, which contributes to my thinking it's caused by the forward shoulder issue. Other than this slight shift the top is nice and comfy, if a bit stiff. I'm hoping it will soften up with washing.

This is a more accurate representation of the color of the butterflies. They are a great acidic green :) This is just a close up of the few details this shirt has - all very simple. There really isn't too much to say about this shirt since it only took 2 hours to make, lol. So easy.

Interestingly, while I really like this shirt (and I've worn it several times already with compliments each time), I don't really like it for the skirt I originally bought it to go with. I bought this fabric so that the skirt I planned to make with it would not be a wardrobe orphan, but I may have fixed that now - we'll see. So while at first I was a bit bummed it didn't work entirely as planned (though the idea is growing on me a bit more now I've had some time away from making it), I really like this shirt just for itself. Who would've thought so many people would compliment a quilting cotton top in an unobtrusive print? And such a simple shape? It's kind of baffling. I've worn this tucked in as well as untucked, and I like it both way. So I'm glad that an item I wasn't super fond of at first has turned into a nice item in its own right :) I really love this pattern, and I have a nice little stack of other versions planned in my head. If you haven't tried this (whether through the class or as an individual pattern), I definitely recommend you change that. It's a great piece!

Summary:
Fabric: 2 yards Faril by Lotta Jansdotter quilting cotton - $9.23
Pattern: Sailor Top by Fancy Tiger Crafts via Creativebug class
Notions: White thread - $1.00
Time: 2 hours
Total Cost: $ 10.23

*Affiliate links included, though my membership is purchased with my own money and my opinion is uninfluenced.

FO: Red Dotted Swiss Sailor Top

Ever since joining Creativebug last year, I've planned on making the Sailor Top by Fancy Tiger Crafts. It's such a simple shape and seemed pretty flattering in general, plus the examples were just so cute! I had to give it a try. I finally decided to just dive in a few weeks ago.

So, this is the Sailor Top by Fancy Tiger Crafts. The pattern is part of a class on Creativebug, so you print out and assemble the pattern like normal, but the instructions are given in video form. The class itself is very easy to follow, giving close up demonstrations of each step. The class is designed that even a beginner could end up with a cute shirt. You can use any type of fabric you like, and while the quilting cotton examples are tempting, I knew I wanted to use something different.

My fabric is a simple dotted Swiss cotton in red that I bought when Hancock Fabrics was going out of business. We're talking in the last days of their business, meaning this was one of the few remaining bolts. Which is kind of surprising since this is nice fabric. It's a light, breezy cotton that is just slightly sheer but the color helps with the opacity. I bought 2 yards not having any clue what I would make, but it was only $2 a yard so I went for it. It suddenly struck me that it would be great for this pattern :) Gotta love those random bits of inspiration. I think the dotted texture really helps a very plain top.

This fabric really is great for this pattern. There is a bit of shaping at the waist, but mostly this is just a boxy top. The fact that this fabric has a nice drape really helps keep me from looking like a lego brick. If I pull my arms out (like above) it definitely looks a bit boxy, but I don't typically stand that way, lol. I think the real saving grace is that it flares just a touch at the hip, giving the illusion of shaping.

I was skeptical about raglan sleeves on my shoulders, but I'm happy they look good :) The raglan sleeves seem to give my shoulders a bit of extra pouf which I'm never opposed to. I like the sleeve bands as well - it all balances well together I think. Even though the design is simple, it's well thought out because the sleeve hems, bottom hem, and neck band all have a similar look when finished.

It may be a bit wide of a neckline with my shape. I had to adjust the neck throughout the day when I wore it the first time - not so much it bugged me, but enough that I realize it's not perfect fitting. But really how much fitting can you do on a top like this?

So that's my Sailor top :) I have a few random fabric cuts in things like rayon that I think would be great in tops like this, so I'm sure I will be making more. The nice thing is that this pattern come with your membership to Creativebug, so if you're interested I'd definitely recommend following the links!

Summary:
Fabric: 1.5 yards red dotted Swiss cotton - $4.00
Pattern: Sailor Top by Fancy Tiger Crafts on Creativebug
Notions: red thread - $0.50
Time: 3.5 hours
Total Cost: $4.50

*I am an affiliate of Creativebug, and I get a little something if you sign up through me. I bought my membership with my own money, and all opinions about this pattern are completely my own. I just really liked this class :)