Made for Me - April Batwing Top

I originally made New Look 6648, view A in January, this time I decided to make view B with the batwing sleeves which is more suitable for the cooler weather. This time the fabric was from the $2 rack at Darn Cheap Fabrics in Glen Huntly. I was lucky to have found it, as the fabric was rolled with the "pretty side" facing inwards. The outer side, with the pretty sparkles was hidden inside the roll.


I encountered an interesting problem when laying out the pattern. My fabric was only about 130cm wide, which is wide compared to many woven fabrics, but most stretch fabrics are closer to 150cm. It seems I wasn't the only one who had issues with the width of the fabric. When I made a little post on facebook about it, it turned out that Lara was also making a (different) top, using the exact same fabric! With the batwing style sleeve, the front and back pattern pieces are quite wide. When I laid this pattern out, I realised it was not going to fit. I decided to cut the sleeves a bit short, and add cuffs to the ends. I made the cuffs the same way that the lower band is made, with gathered seams.


One thing that I do find a bit irritating with the top I made in January, is that even though I made the neck opening narrower and deeper, it is still "a bit flashdance" and falls off my shoulder from time to time. I wanted to avoid this and really brought the neckline in on this top. Then I did my neckband differently to the instructions and mitred the centre front instead of the way the pattern has you do it. I feel I did make the neckband a little short, as it brought in the neckline even more, it is very modest, but being an autumn-winter top, this keeps me warmer - better than having a top that falls off the shoulders when it's freezing outside.