About a year ago I attended Melbourne’s first restash event.  It’s a get-together where you take fabric, patterns, and any other sewing supplies that you no longer require, put them onto long tables, then take home things that other people have brought along!  I think that I came home with less than I took (which was my aim).  Both McCalls 7125 and the fabric that I used to sew it up came from Restash.  My thanks to the donors!

This style really is my jam for summer tops. Loose and cool, V-neckline, shoulder coverage, nothing tight.

The fabric appears to be a viscose twill. It drapes nicely and feels lovely and soft against the skin. The pattern used up quite a bit of fabric – I had to do pattern tetris to fit all the pieces onto the fabric that I had, so wasn’t able to match all the motifs quite as well as I would have liked.

From the McCalls website:  Very loose-fitting, pullover tops have bias neck facing, V-neckline, fullness forming drape, shaped hemline, wrong side shows and narrow hem. A, B: Racerback straps. B:Front lace overlay and purchased trim. C, D: Short dolman sleeves. C: Contrast panel. D: Double-layered.

I sewed view C, the single layered version with cut on dolman sleeve.  I’d like to give the double layered version a go too though – I think it would be perfect for semi-sheer, floaty fabrics.

I think that this is a pattern that would be easy to overlook, but it is really a terrific everyday casual style.  I assume that sewed size Medium, which is a 12-14.  As you can see from the photos, the front is quite a bit shorter than the back, so you might want to take that into account when sewing it up.  Construction wise, it was very straight forward.

The last time that I sewed Simplicity 1198 I said that there would be a second time, but I would make the neckline smaller.  There was, and I did!

To remind you about this pattern: Misses’ V-neck knit top has sleeve variations, optional contrasting yoke and panel with asymmetric hemlines. The scoop neck knit top has sleeve options and a beautifully draped hemline.

Although the neckline is WAY better, and the fabric is a luscious bamboo cotton spandex (from Rathdowne Fabrics) I still didn’t get this quite right.

The colour is fabulous, and the overall style okay, but the sleeves are not the length that I prefer and they’re also too loose. Also, all that I do is stare at the bulge emphasised by the elastic waist of my jeans underneath.

This top (and the previous version) now live in the wardrobe of my taller and slimmer cousin Sally. They look fabulous on her, but weren’t quite right on me. It’s often hard to get that combination of fabric and pattern perfect. I think for this to work on me it needs to be in a print and the fibre possibly needs to be a poly ity or a dry knit. It needs drape, but not any cling for me to be happy. Ah well, this top still had a happy ending.