New Look 6034 Top

Hello all!  My New Look 6034 top is all done!  Remember WAYY back when I posted this lovely sketch of my plans for sewing this top up:

It is only 1/2 of my "Sweatsuit Alternative" outfit I am making for the Tim Gunn Sew Along, and I did get side-tracked for a few months, but I am back on track.  Here it is hanging in my sewing room (closet):

It looks much like the front of the pattern envelope with the exception of the pockets, which I left off.

The fabric I used is a striped jersey knit, that I believe was a polyester blend.  Anyhow, the feel of this fabric is very smooth, with a slight sheen to it.  The contrasting solid red fabric was also a jersey knit, though a cotton/lycra blend.  The polyester fabric was more slippery, so it was a little difficult to work with, but not anything too challenging.  

They should call this pattern "fun with facings" because the armhole bands and neckline bands were all made by adding a facing.  The upside to this was I began to know what to expect early on, but the downside was how much time I spent on this garment.

I must say some of that time spent was my fault, though.  It seems when you do not sew often, you tend to forget the most basic of information!  I thought I would be fine not marking the right and wrong sides of the fabric, until I sewed the right and wrong sides of the armhole band together!  I was frustrated, and instead of removing the stitching, I trimmed the seam off and sewed it the right way.  So, my armhole bands are actually a little smaller in width that they are supposed to be, but it turned out to be a feature I like!

I would definitely say this shirt is in the "easy" category.  You can expect to do lots of facing work as I stated earlier, some gathering on the front and back neckline, understitching, topstitching and hemming.  I used my stretch stitch the majority of the time because I have misplaced my twin needles (which I LOVE, and need to buy more), and I finished most of the raw edges with my serger.

Hemming using my machine's stretch stich

All in all, this shirt was worth my time.  The end result is very nice!

This top is perfect for all things summer!  I love the bright colors, the airiness, the length that goes perfect with leggings, and the pure comfort of it!  With all the time it took me to make this one top, I could have had three or four different ones like it already!

The only teeny change I would make if I sew another one of these tops, is to add about a 1/2 inch to the length. Right now the top hits me right at my hips, but another 1/2 inch would be great.  It's not something to gripe about at all, just a consideration for the future.  As far as the back goes, I really must learn how to adjust patterns for my full sized booty!

Does anyone know if an SBA would work?  Just sayin'!  It looks like I have a little shelf for fabric back there = ).

Oh yeah, I guess I should tell you that I sewed a size 12 according to the finished measurements, but the ease in this top was too much for my liking.  I wanted a more form-fitting silhouette so I ended up tweaking the fit as I went and taking out close to an inch on both sides!  If not, I would have been in muu-muu city, and that is not where I wanted to end up.  I can't remember what I did for the neckline/armholes, but I had to take a good take a approximately 1/2" off at the seams in order for everything to fit and not gape.

Well, that concludes NL6034 top.  I am now working on the stretch denim jeggings, but I hope they do not take nearly as much time as the top.  I am using the black pictured leggings as a reference, as I remember from Kyle that these run big as well.

Since it wouldn't be proper for me to end this post with a shot of my rear end, I leave you with one more pic, and a thank you to my hubby for his patience (a camera with a tripod is in the near future)...

Enjoy your weekend, and Stay sew-filled!