Pleated Elegance: Spring Top No 2

Firstly, I was probably a bit too negative about my Spring Top No 1. I love wearing it, as long as I don’t spend too much time looking in the mirror, spotting the flaws!

Here is Spring Top Number 2: Pleated Elegance:

I started with this roll of mystery fabric that I picked up at a thrift store a while back:

It no longer had a price tag on it, but I think I paid around $5. The label said 1.4m x 1.4m, but it ended up being 1.8m wide, so I had a lot of fabric to work with! It’s really stretchy so I assume it’s a synthetic.

The design was modelled on a few different store-bought tops I have in my wardrobe. I like tops that are fitted around my waist, but stretch fabric lying flat across my tummy is a great way to show off the post-baby lumps and bumps – not the look I’m going for. So I pleated a section of fabric to go across my belly:

For the back, I used the same Jalie pattern 2805 that I used for Spring Top No 1 for sizing, rather than try to self-draft something from another top. Across the bust, I guess I made it by draping, but since I don’t have a dress-form, it was more like pin, try on, stick more pins in, watch the pins fall out when I took it off again (darn that slippery fabric), sew it together, try it on, get my (broken) seam ripper out and try again, with a little bit of cutting extra fabric pieces thrown in! Eventually, I arrived at this:

 

The area under the bust didn’t sit right, so I made a sash to cover it up, and it also added a nice detail at the back! I thought about making belt loops, but ended up just sewing the sash in place at the two side seams – no chance of losing it in the wash then!

Once again, it’s a little snug across the bust, but hopefully will fit nicely when I finish nursing! Apologies for the self-portrait mirror photos – I really do have to work out the timer on one of our cameras so that I don’t have to take photos in the bathroom. I’m not willing to trust my two year old with a camera yet, and I didn’t want to wait until the weekend to get hubby to take photos!

In case you weren’t sure, I’m entering this top in the Spring Top Sew-Along at Made By Rae.