Swirls Just Want To Have Fun

Here's Heather and myself having too much fun at my mom's house!

Heather wanted to show off one of her new Disney princess outfits that we bought at Macy's.

Here's McCalls top:



Pattern Description
"Pullover top with forward shoulder seams has released front tucks, V-neckline, and full length sleeves."

Size
Misses' small



Favorite features
*V-neckline
*Pleats below the shoulders
*Forward shoulder which works well for me. I don't have to worry about gapping issues at the back neckline and the unstable back facing at the neck.
*Pattern consists of the front, back, front neck facing, back neck facing and sleeve.
*Sleeves are sewn in flat
*Few steps needed to sew the blouse. They were very easy to read due to the large print and uncluttered layout.
*Quick to sew

Not-so-favorite features
*The neckline facing has a tendency to peek out
*The length is a little short for my personal preference.

Fabric
Drapey polyester from Emma One Sock.

Directions
The directions were clear and consise, complete with easy-to-decipher illustrations that would be very appropriate for beginning sewists.

There is a "Quick Tips" section that briefly deals with turning narrow straps, hand basting, top-stitching, and pressing hems with an iron.seams without finishing them and the edges of the facings. The clock (12 o'clock, 12:40, 1:00, 1:30) appeared as points of reference next to the different phases of sewing the top.

First forty minutes:
*Make front tucks or pleats, stitch front to back at forward shoulders, sew the front and back facings together, attach the facing to the neckline, understitch the facing.

Next 20 minutes:
* Pin and sew sleeve to the armscyes.
* Stitch underarm seams of top and sleeves

Last half-hour

I assumed that the 90-minutes sewing time just included sewing the
*Press and hem sleeves
*Press and hem the bottom edge of the front and back of the top.


Modifications
None, except for making a belt of the same fabric.

Conclusion
Definitely lives up to its name! I was able to finish the top in two hours which included taking care of some other business and making a belt.

Jessie's Girls

1981.....What a great year and a year in music!

I purchased this from ebay. I like the square neckline and the sleeve variations! I made the sleeveless top with the ruffled front.







Pattern Description
From 1981, misses' pullover blouses with square neckline and sleeve options.

When I saw the printed year of this pattern I was taken back to flashbacks of high school, the "Valley Girl" fashion scene, and rocking to the music of Rick Springfield, the Police, Rick James and Pat Benatar!

Remember when the #1 hit "Jessie's Girl" was heard everywhere and soap opera fans swooned when they saw Dr. Noah Drake on General Hospital?


Size
Misses' size 12, bust 34"

Fabric
Alexander Henry "Mad for Mod" fabric from Hancock's of Paducah.

Did it look like the envelope
A little. My fabric, belt, and trim made my top unique.






Likes
*Square neckline with optional trim
*Organized instructions
*Versatile pattern






Dislikes
* Definitely meant to be belted due to being somewhat baggy
* Order of construction for adding the trim to the neckline
The trim is added to gathered edge of the ruffles, before sewing the ruffless to the neckline. But it was somewhat of a challenge to get my ruffles to line up with the trim (bias binding in a contrast color), especially at the "mitered" corners (little darts at specific points that line up with the square necklines' corners), and this is before attaching the ruffles to the neckline!



Modifications
* Added 3/8" to width of ruffle.
* Instead of adding trim to the ruffles prior to attaching to the neckline, I basted the ruffles to the neckline the and trimmed excess fabric at top (grade the edges). Then I sewed trim with a narrow elastric edge and little organza ruffles onto the edges of the neckline.

* If ever I make the ruffled neckline again, I would skip the trim and I would baste and sew the ruffles to the neckline before attaching the facings. I would also used elastic thread to gather the edge of the ruffles. It would have made gathering so much easier!


Directions
This was basic and simple blouse to sew that I relied more on the satisfactory illustrations! McCall's assumed that the sewist knows basic constructions such as gathering and making facings.


Would you make this again? Would you recommend this pattern to others?
Yes! I plan to make the other styles without the ruffled neckline. I would recommend this pattern or something similar to others. There are current patterns that have similar styling (i.e. Simplicity's Project Runway series