Sewing for my Sister

I know, I know, this is probably the most seasonally inappropriate garment I could possibly talk about right now! I do promise that when I made this top the sun was shining and it was hot, although it is hard to imagine that kind of weather right now. Despite having made this top way back in July/August (I can't even remember exactly it was so long ago!) for some reason it turned into one of those things that I just never got round to writing about. I did consider waiting until next summer before talking about this top but I decided that my that point I will probably have forgotten absolutely everything about it!

If you think you're seeing double - you're not. At least, not quite! You might recognised this top from this one that I made. I made that top for my friend for her birthday and when my sister saw it on my dressform she asked if I would make her one too. I had some fabric left over and I actually made this top almost immediately after the first one. There are a few differences between the two tops though. My sister had a few changes in mind that she asked me to add. After the success of the cushion I made her last year I really wanted to sew her something else so I was really happy with the request - usually I'm the one asking her if she wants me to sew her something! I talked about how I drafted the pattern in much more depth in this post but because I'd already made the first top the second one took no time at all. The main change in this design is the omission of the tie and of course that made the whole process a lot easier!

Other than the obvious change with the tie-front there aren't many other changes. It's smaller that the first top, and the other difference is the length. Unfortunately my sister found it too short when she tried it on, but this was easily resolved with the addition of a band of fabric around the hem. To be honest it's hardly noticeable becuase of the busy print so I'm glad that that hurdle didn't cause much of a problem. 

That's about it for this top! If you're interested in finding out more about the construction head over to this blog post as the drafting of the two tops was pretty similar. I'm always nervous about sewing for others (especially my sister!) but I think she likes this top. Obviously it isn't currently getting any wear but hopefully next summer it will. One of the things that I like about the design is the panelling, the front and back bodice have a combined number of six panels and really like the look they give. They also make fitting much easier! I'm also pleased with how smoothly the I was able to adapt the top of the bodice, both the tie and the simple v-neck design sit really nicely.