Vogue 8392

I took a little break from the flower girl dresses to make myself a top. I was inspired by other bloggers who think outside the box, so to speak, for their fabric sources, and used the Liberty for Target cotton shawl/scarf for my fabric. (Actually someone else gave me the idea, and I thought, why not!) I had to look for a top pattern that didn't take a lot of fabric (I didn't really measure the scarf), and was suitable for a woven fabric. There are plenty of patterns that fit the bill, but they were designed for knits.

Vogue 8392 fit the bill:

First, I have to comment on the sleeves. What was Vogue thinking? They must have designed the perfectly suitable top which is essentially a woven fabric tee, but needed to offer more options, so they said, "hey, what about funky sleeves?" Um, no. I made view A (the yellow one), but I left off the collar so I could add my own ruffle collar.

I tried to take all my pictures in front of the azaleas, but the light just wasn't right. But here you go. About the collar... you can find tutorials all over the internet to embellish t-shirts with this kind of ruffle, but here's what I did. I measured the neckline which is about 27", and then I cut 2" bias strips to equal, well, more than that. I didn't really measure. I also cut 1-1/2" bias strips. After sewing the strips together (the 2" and the 1-1/2" to make 2 long strips), I laid the 1-1/2" over the 2" and finished the end.

I didn't finish the long ends, though I did toy with the idea of trying a rolled hem done on my serger. After experimenting on scraps, I didn't really like it, and this fabric doesn't fray a lot, especially cut on the bias. So continuing, I marked the center, and a little off the quarter mark (the back neck length was less than a quarter of the length). The markings just made it easier to make the gathers more even. Speaking of gathers, I just ran one line of stitching with the stitches at the longest length for gathering.

The bias tape facing had already been attached, and I put the gathering line over the bias tape stitching for a guide, adjusted the gathers, and stitched right down the center of the ruffle. I pulled the 2 layers apart, but I think it will look even better after the first washing.

This is a super easy pattern, though somehow my brain completely forgot how to set in sleeves. I didn't do a great job with the easing, as there are quite a few puckers, but I'm just going with it. the busy pattern sort of hides them, and hey, they don't really bother me.

Bottom line, I think this will be a fun top, to wear all summer... now I just need to get a cute pair of black shorts!