Esther’s Montrose Top

Esther had the Mini box in March and used her 1m of pink geometric floral viscose to make a Cashmerette Montrose Top

I was previously in a sewing slump but a few weeks ago, the sun came out and my sewjo returned with a vengeance so I was very excited to receive the box in March as I knew I would take pleasure in making my garment.

I have started sewing for spring and I am so excited that there’s more daylight and some sun in ever rainy Manchester. The fabric in last month’s box is exactly what I dream when I think of what I would be wearing this spring. It’s a gorgeous viscose with a beautiful drape to it.

As soon as I touched the fabric, I knew it was going to be a top. A nice top to go with trousers or skirts as the weather gets warmer. I always assumed that one metre of fabric would not be enough to make me a top because I always like to have sleeves. I considered that light pink organza sleeves would be beautiful and on trend.

I only considered two patterns for this fabric – the Sagebrush top and the Montrose top. The Sagebrush seems to be a favourite on Instagram but I keep going back and forth on whether the silhouette would look good on me or not. As much as I really wanted to try the pattern, I decided this was not the best time for trial and error.

I decided to go for an old favourite – the Montrose top by Cashmerette. I love this pattern so much. The different bust sizes makes life so much easier so no FBA required. Before I decided whether or not I would be using a different fabric for sleeves, I decided to lay my pattern pieces on the fabric as economically as possible and see if I would be able to get all the pieces on the fabric. And I did! I shortened the pattern by 3 inches, I also cut out the short sleeve and swapped out the fabric binding for purchased bias binding. The pattern has you cut the back piece on the fold, but I added a seam in the back as I found it easier to finish the back opening by folding it twice and stitching as opposed to using a binding as suggested by the pattern.

The pattern came together very quickly, granted I have made two Montrose tops in the past, plus this pattern style is familiar to me so I didn’t even need instructions. I was able to make it in a couple of hours in one afternoon. However, I accidentally cut out the back piece 12cm shorter than the front. I only noticed this after sewing my front piece to the back. I tried it on, and looking in the mirror, I considered cutting the 12cm from the front piece as well to make it a crop top. This could have been a good choice as I have lots of high waist trousers but I felt this would be too limiting, so I cut out two 12cm strips to lengthen the back piece.

I am so pleased with how this top came out. I think this is going to be on heavy rotation this spring and summer. In the future, I’ll be more careful with my measurements to ensure no issues with length. I’ll definitely be making more garments with this pattern. I can definitely see myself adding different types of sleeves to this top as well.