My top which I’m calling my “Aqua and Navy Circles Top” started with a sale on Liberty fabric at The Fabric Store in Adelaide. The plan was to get some Tana Lawn to sew a top. I’d only used Tana Lawn previously as a lining for my Closet Core Patterns Kelly Anarok. But when I came across this Meadow Cotton (which I’d never heard of before) it felt so much softer than the Tana Lawn and I immediately knew which pattern to use. (I did get some Tana Lawn too, but that’s for another project.)
Top Pattern Used
I have used New Look 6374 previously in a rayon (see below) which had a beautiful drape to it, so I knew the Meadow Cotton would work well. Again I went with View A with the three-quarter sleeves and the length of D as a starting point. Size 20 was used for all pieces except the sleeves where I used a size 22.
I knew that I wanted/needed to make a few changes:
- Round Back Adjustment
- Long Sleeves
- Add 2cm to each side seam on Front piece at hips, adding extra 4 cm to hem
Previous Top from Pattern
In November 2020 I made this New Look 6374 in a 100% rayon fabric from Spotlight in a navy with white cranes. Corded bias satin piping was used at the bottom of the yoke across the front and back to highlight the yoke and to create a little barrier so I wouldn’t have to do any pattern matching. I had also added 5cm in length to the View D cutting line.
I have worn this top a lot and it continually wants to pull to the back at the neckline, so I’m forever pulling it forward. Making a rounded back adjustment will fix this.
The sleeves when not rolled up finished at a really awkward length. Not full length. Not three-quarter length. Somewhere in between. Another adjustment to be made.
Rounded Back Adjustment
Firstly, a rounded back adjustment. To calculate how much of an adjustment I needed I put on my navy and white cranes top and measured where the neckline at the centre back sat and where it should end. It was 1.5cm. As this pattern has a yoke I added 1.5cm to the top of the back piece.
Long Sleeve Adjustment
Secondly, I wanted to make this into a top that could be worn as a three-quarter sleeve as well as a long sleeve. I prefer the long sleeve when worn under jackets as it avoids that bulky section in the middle of your forearm where the three-quarter sleeve finishes.
Putting on my navy and white cranes top I measured from the sleeve hem to where I wanted it to finish on my wrist. The difference was 5cm so this was added to the length of the sleeve. Both underarm seamlines were redrawn from elbow to wrist so it was narrower by 1.5cm, making it 3cm small at the wrist to give it a bit of shaping, but not too much whereby I couldn’t roll the sleeve hem up and push over my elbow.
Cutting Out
I tried my best to do pattern matching, but the print wasn’t quite square. The hem matched the horizontal of the print, but then the sides seams were off. I did try, but with such a busy print I don’t think anyone will notice.
Two yoke pieces were cut out instead of the pattern’s recommended one so that I could neatly finish the yoke on the inside as you would see in a men’s shirt
Sewing the Top
To highlight the yoke I wanted to use a contrasting piping in the seam. Rather than my oft-used cord-filled piping, I thought I’d do something a little more subtelier this time, flat piping. I’d never done it before so I took a look at my son’s PE shirt and saw what peaked out wasn’t very wide.
With a bit of playing around with the piping width I decided on a 4cm wide strip cut on the crosswise grain (no curves so it didn’t need to be on the bias). The seam allowances are 1.5cm, so when folded in half 0.5cm is visible. The piping was sewn to the yoke sections first with a 1cm seam allowance, then the yoke sewed per the pattern instructions to the Front and Back pieces.
The sewing up of the top was pretty straight forward. Sew a seam, then finish exposed seams with an overlock finish. For the yoke I used the burrito method. And the hems were just folded twice and sewn done.
Finishing the Sleeves
I was looking for a way to hold the sleeve hem in place when I use it as a long sleeved top. I didn’t want a cuff and placket, but something much simplier. This happened to occur on a day when I took the dog for a walk in the rain and wore my husband’s raintcoat (his is lighterweight than mine). At the wrist it had a tab with a velcro strip that cynched up the hem. Of course I didn’t want to use velcro but it got me thinking. After some googling I came across Blouse with Pleat #106 from Burda Style that used a rouleau loop and button about 5cm above the wrist. It looked perfect.
I pulled out my trusty Couture: The Art of Fine Sewing book by Roberta Carr which I knew explained how to create rouleau loops.
I cut a 2.5cm wide x 12cm bias strip of my Meadow Cotton. Folded it in half lengthways and sewed 3mm away from the fold. The excess seam allowance was trimmed to about 3mm.
To turn it to the right side I tried using my Fasturn tool, but even the smallest one wouldn’t fit in this very narrow bias strip. So I turned it out with a double thread of sewing thread knotted to one end of the tube, the needle put through the tube, eye side first, and pulled through. A little bit of stretching the loop, as the book recommended, then cut into two 5.5cm lengths.
The sleeve was folded in half so one side was the sleeve seam and the other was the half way point of the sleeve. I put a pin on this folded edge, 5.5cm from finished hem. The rouleau loop was folded in half lengthwise and sewn to the sleeve at the pinned position using a straight stitch reversed a couple of times. The ends of the rouleau loop don’t need to be finished as it’s cut on the bias. The top was tried on and I found the approximate location of where the button would be sewn so that there was about 1cm of ease at the wrist.
Aqua and Navy Circles Top Review
I’m really happy with how the top turned out and have worn it quite a few times. With sleeves rolled up and the sleeves rolled down. I do find that the Meadow Cotton does wrinkle horizontally quite a bit once worn so if I use it again I will add a bit of extra length to the front and back to cater for this. Surprisingly there were no wrinkles after washing and dripped dry so no ironing is necessary. Just the way I like it.
The rounded back adjustment has done the trick and I’ve found that it sits nicely on my neck and doesn’t need to be pulled forward like my navy top.
A few weeks after sewing the topI also made a mask to match, McCalls M8169. I’ve had a few nice comments including one from another school Mum who wondered how I got a matching mask, til she guessed I made the top too.
Pattern: New Look 6374, Size 20 (Size 22 Sleeves) | Pattern Review
Fabric: 1.7m Liberty Meadow Cotton – Maddock D from The Fabric Store in Adelaide – AU$45.22 (30% off)
Piping Fabric: Navy Broadcloth from Spotlight – From my stash
Interfacing: White Collar and Cuffs Interfacing from Melanns (interfacing name is unknown) – approx AU$2.00
Buttons: 2x 14mm Clear (sleeve tab) and 2x 13mm White and Gold (Wrist) – From my stash
Sewing Machine Thread: All Purpose Polyester Gutermann 800 (white) from Spotlight – approx AU$0.50
Overlocker Thread: Serafil 120/2 Col 1000 (off white), Woolly Nylon (beige) – approx AU$0.50
Cost for Aqua and Navy Circles Top: AU$48.22
Sewing Machine Settings on my Memory Craft 3500:
- Sewing Machine Needle: Universal 80
- Tension: 4.0
- Seams: Stitch #2, Stitch Length of 2.6
- Topstitching: Stitch #2, Stitch Length of 3.0, Width 0.5 (used edge fooot)
- Buttonhole: Stitch #7, Width 5.0, Length of 0.2
Overlocker Settings on my Janome 644D:
- Needle: HAx1 SP 90
- 3 Thread – Off White Serafil in needle, 2x Beige Woolly Nylon in loopers
- Thread Tension: 6.0 3.0 3.0
- Stitch Length: 3.0
- Differential Feed: 0.5
Are you a fan of three-quarter sleeve tops like I am? What are some of your favourite patterns?
0 Comments