Made by Me: Style Arc Rosie top

Last week I needed a portable project to take to my monthly sewing group.  I didn't have anything in progress and I didn't have much in the way of inspiration, but after a browse through my pattern stash I came up with the Style Arc Rosie top.



Source

It looked to be quite simple to put together, so I moved on to my fabric stash and found one metre of printed polyester crepe. 

I cut out all the pieces the evening before the Sewcial evening, and took it all along with me.  The top went together really nicely, all the pieces fit exactly, and the directions while minimal were fine for this simple top. 

I made some changes to the way it went together, using French seams throughout.  Unfortunately I only decided to do this once I'd cut it out, and I think I used a slightly larger seam allowance than I should have done.  The top is fine, but could do with being a tiny bit looser.

Unfortunately because of the busy fabric you can't see the nice design lines.

The pattern instructions tell you to do a facing for the neck, which I changed to a bias bound finish and I also used this same finish on the cap sleeves. 

You can see from the above photo I have a bit of wrinkling (although it doesn't look as bad in real life).  I think this could easily be resolved by using the correct seam allowances!

Again, a smaller seam allowance would have allowed this top to sit a bit looser on my hips, thereby avoiding the wrinkling in the back.

Overall I'm really pleased with this top.  It's a cute and comfortable style for warmer weather, and looked good with a cardi when I wore it yesterday. 

I'm definitely going to make another, this time in plain fabric to show off the design lines, and just a smidge looser. 

Also... I seriously need to tone up my upper arms - anyone know a good way?!