Maybe making it a size bigger would have eliminated this or perhaps it's a characteristic of woven dolman sleeves?? To be honest I'm not sure, but I'm guessing in a fitted style top bust darts would have sorted this out.
Hacking back the sleeve length created the new problem of the entire side of my bra being seen when I raise my arm(s). I didn't think about it at the time but maybe if I had made the sleeve opening a bit narrower it might have helped avoid this gaposis.
Luckily this problem was pretty easily solved by wearing a singlet underneath. I was thinking of making a bandeau out of skin tone fabric to enable me to wear this top in summer but I have found (after the first wearing) that the blue/white print has all the breathability of a shower curtain, so it will be moved to the sping/autumn/winter wear pile. No problems about wearing it with a singlet then!
Another issue I have with the pattern is the stated suitable fabrics:
Not the actual fabrics themselves... but the fact that they don't suggest what is best to use where.
After making this first top up - and this is purely my personal opinion- I think you would have much better results with a woven fabric for the yoke and a stretch knit below. This - I imagine- would give you a lot more range of movement with the dolman sleeve style of cut and maybe look more flattering/less wrinkly in general.
I finished all the armhole, neckhole and hem edges with self made bias binding from the blue/white print fabric.
On making the bias binding: please note, this synthetic fabric was VERY slinky. Originally I planned to make the bias binding using my new whiz-bang super-dooper bias binding machine, but such was the "slink" factor of the fabric that the strips distorted to 3/4 of the original width and were unable to be folded by the machine.
If I use a fabric like this again I will know to cut it a bit wider to accomodate this distortation.
I ended up just folding the long fabric strip in two, ironing it and kind of fussing/fadangling it into proper place while stitching and turning it as a facing. This ended up being a rather labourous task over several nights (my sewing time is rather limited) but I took it slow and steady, using lots of pins and stopping when I felt too tired.
In hindsight I'm glad I did this, I think a nice bias binding facing gives a lovely finish to garments and not rushing it enables a more "polished" finish.
So overall how do I feel about this pattern? A little bit let down (I have pretty high expectations for the "Very easy Vogue" line) and a bit unsure if I will make it again. I don't mind my finished top at all, the more I wear it the more I like it. It's easy and uncomplicated to wear and I think in a different fabric combination it might be a bit more "user friendly" and workable in my wardrobe.
But (like always) there are so many other patterns waiting a turn in my stash and that I would love to have a go at, so who knows what might end up on the cutting table next...
Til then
Happy Sewing!!!
Kate :)
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