adult's clothing, sewing

Butterick 6182 top

As it turns out I do still have two more Sewjourn garments to share!  Argh!  I knew I was behind in blogging, but didn’t really just how far behind.  I’m getting there though, as evidenced by a sudden deluge of blog posts!  This post is about Butterick 6182.  It’s described as follows:

MISSES’ TOP, DRESS AND SKIRT: Loose-fitting, pullover top or dress has bias neck facings, and sleeve bands. A: Narrow hem. Skirt has wide waistband, side-front pockets, front pleat and invisible back zipper. B and C: Stitched hem.
Designed for lightweight to medium-weight woven fabrics.
FABRICS: A, B: Charmeuse, Challis, Cotton Blends. C: Twill, Linen, Poplin.

http://butterick.mccall.com/newsletters/img.sewingtoday.com/cat/10000/add_img/B6182.gif

I intend to sew the dress in linen at some stage, but wanted to first try out the overall fit of the top.  I sewed view A in size 14.

Butterick 6182 with added hem bands in balinese sarong

When I first tried this on I wasn’t happy at all.  It was restrictingly tight around the armholes and the length as drafted just felt way too short.  I tossed it into my bag and figured that I would think more about it later.  I did like the neckline and the centre front darts and seaming so didn’t want to get rid of it straight away.

Butterick 6182 with added hem bands in balinese sarong

When I got home I realised that I had kept the scraps of the fabric.  I don’t always do this – I find that scraps just pile up, and now only keep ones that I feel confident are large enough for another project.  I think that a sixth sense had been at work.  The fabric is an old sarong, one that I thought I’d bought on my first trip to Bali twenty-five years ago but now realise actually belongs to my husband – he used to use it as a decoration even before we’d met.  Sorry about cutting up your sarong!

Butterick 6182 with added hem bands in balinese sarong

Anyway, there was just enough of the scraps left to cut self-faced bands to sew to the hem of the skirt.  I folded the scraps lengthwise and used the pattern pieces as a guide to cut a band for the front hem and a band for the back hem.  Rather than sewing these together I bagged out the sides of each band so that the finished top would have side splits.  Then it was a simple matter of sewing the bands beneath the already finished hem stitching.  I did some snipping of seam allowances around the armholes and overlocked the seam allowances to a narrower width, which significantly improved the fit there as well.

Butterick 6182 added hem split detail

This was definitely a save.  I like the finished top, especially with jeans, and now know that I can go ahead and sew the dress without major fitting issues (as long as I remember to do that short back waist alteration)!

Butterick 6182 with added hem bands in balinese sarong