another UFO done and dusted

I had another night out with the ladies from my mother's group on Friday night, and now that they all know that I sew there is always an expectation from them that I will wear something new that I've made! It's fantastic motivation for me to get sewing, just what I need sometimes.... I was going to wear the black and white vintage dress I made recently but we were going to a Lebanese restaurant where you sit on floor cushions around a low table and a dress isn't too practical for that arrangement.

So I decided to finish off this top I started at least 2 or maybe even 3 years ago:

It's made from Vogue 7232 which seems to be OOP now although the patterns is probably only a few years old. I've made this from some lilac satin brocade that has a silver and gold flower pattern embroidered onto it which looks lovely in real life but was a total slippery pain in the butt fabric to sew and press. Probably one of the reasons it became a UFO really! I think from memory I started making this to wear to a specific event but didn't finish it in time and then never got around to finishing it. Hmmm, this seems to be a common reason for me now that I think about it.

It wasn't difficult to sew, but it was very difficult to do a fitting because the side seams are sewn absolutely last - it's basically two shells sewn together around the neckline and hem, turned out the right way and then sewn down the side seams leaving a small opening in the lining layer to slip stitch shut. This makes for a very neat finish but I couldn't really try on the top until this last step to make sure it fit properly, and as it turns out it didn't fit too well at all.

As usual with wrap tops, the front gaped open badly on me because of my rather concave chest (not even breastfeeding for nearly 12 months has helped me in that area!). The pattern really needed adjustment before cutting fabric to fix it, but since I was well past that stage I just pulled the two sides tightly across my bust and put some snaps in to hold it in place to fit rather than put the snaps in the marked places on the pattern. The result of this you can see in the photo above: the hem of one side doesn't lay exactly over the other side, instead it sits lower. But I can live with that, because the wrap around belt sort of takes away the attention from it.

The sides still gape a little, but it's not obscene:

The other problem is that the obi style belt is just a little too short to tie up properly because the fabric is so slippery is keeps untying every time I sit down. In the end I put a press stud on the ties to hold them shut and then just tied the fabric over it. Whatever it takes to make it work right?!

Anyway it's out of the big box of UFOs and into the wardrobe and that's what matters. I've also half made View A (the version in the middle) in a lovely white stretch cotton poplin but it is also sitting in the big box of UFOs too! I don't know if you can see my handwriting on the pattern, but I've written that the top is way too short and the sleeves are way too long. Again I should have done a tissue fit or even (gulp!) a muslin. I have plans of saving this top by sewing a contrasting band around the bottom of the shirt so that it finishes below the waistband of my pants and skirts rather than leaving a very unflattering inch or so of skin between the hem of the shirt and top of my pants.

All I can say is be suspicious, very suspicious, of patterns that only have line drawings and not photographs of the finished garments on the pattern envelope - I always get tripped up by them!