New Look 6940 Take 2

I thought I'd go ahead and try the other view of NL 6940. This is basically View E, with the cap sleeves from View A:
The top turned out alright- in fact, better (technically) than the twist top from a couple of posts back. This time I used clear elastic to stabilize the neck edges and I got a nice clean finish. There's no neckline gaping at all. But... (there's always a big but) I just don't think this top does much for me. I'll probably wear it at home on weekends, but that's about it. I think the twist top is a much better choice for me.

I made a 16 again (the largest size), but this time I did an FBA. The stretch of the knit fabric I used was adequate, so I didn't need to add any width, but I did need substantial length added to make sure the underbust seam ended up under my bust.

I drew a horizontal line through the bust point, perpendicular to the center front line. I marked the actual bust point on the line, and then I slashed it all the way across from the center front to the side seam, leaving a hinge at the side. I spread the tissue 1 and 3/8" at the bust point (blue line) and then re-drew the side seam and center front (red lines.)

This left me with a significantly longer center front, but I didn't worry about that because I figured all the excess would be drawn up into the CF gathers. This may not have been the best way to go about this adjustment, but it worked.

The pattern went together pretty well until I got to the sleeves. There was way too much fabric in the sleeve cap to ease into the armhole. I was too tired to cut another set of sleeves and try to correct it, so I just made a little pleat at the top of each sleeve:

I actually kind of like the effect.

I followed the pattern instructions as far as order of construction. Once again, this pattern wanted me to use bias tape to finish the neckline. Hello? I don't think so. I used Wash Away Wonder Tape to stick the clear elastic onto the edge of the neckline and then I serged the edge. Then I turned it under and stitched it down with a twin needle. Looks great.

I followed the instructions for stitching three lines of gathering along the center front and pulling it up to create the CF gathers. It looked fine, but by the time I finished the top, the stitching was beginning to pull loose. So I cut a 1/8" piece of elastic to the proper length (the length of the CF "loop" folded in half, minus seam allowances) anchored it at the neckline edge with a couple of stitches, and then zig zagged over it down to the underbust seam, where I anchored it with a few straight stitches.


This worked even better than the gathers, and if I was going to make this top again, I would do it this way from the beginning. I don't think I'll make it again, though. Even though the pattern is great, I just don't like it that much on me.

In other sewing news, progress continues on the Kitty Mittens dress. Stay tuned for a progress report soon!