Hayley’s Fringe Top
A few weeks ago I went to the theatre with a couple of friends, to see The Buddy Holly Story in case you were wondering! We decided to go out for dinner first as well. Queue the old “I have nothing to wear” dilema. It was the middle of January so it was cold and I wanted to wear jeans and boots for warmth, and also comfort as those theatre seats are teeny tiny. But I had nothing to wear on the top that was comfy but still looked nice and like I’d made an effort. You know, “jeans and a nice top”.
Anyway, I definitely didn’t have time to whip something up five minutes before heading out the door but I decided to put it right using the beautiful cherry red viscose that was in January’s Classic Box. The fabric is so soft, drapes beautifully and actually doesn’t crease too much for a viscose.
Now the next dilema… what pattern to use. Something with a little bit of floatyness but that fits nicely across the bust. My first thought was a Tilly and the Buttons Indigo top but I wanted something a bit more open at the neck so I eventually settled on the Fringe Top by Chalk and Notch.
This top (and dress) has a gently curved v-neckline with three buttons down the bust and pleats that draw the top half into a gathered “skirt”. Even better the pattern comes with two cup size options A/B and C/D. From looking at the body measurements against the finished garment measurements I decided to opt for a size 16 – a very generous sizing scale!
The pattern gives instructions for using the pleats to grade sizes between the waist and hips should you need to, or eliminate them completely. As the skirt part is designed to be very floaty with a lot of ease I just made the pleats slightly smaller but on reflection I’d have left them as a size 16… possibly even make them slightly bigger to bring it a little more.
Construction of the top was very straightforward and in total took about a day to make. The sleeves are self faced and although the instructions tell you to machine stitch the hem to the armhole seam I decided to hand stitch is closed as I always miss parts of the seam any time I have done this before.
I love the finished look of the top although it is a bit too big around the neckline. I think I may have also stretched it a little during the understitching process (always a tricky spot for me). So next time I will size down above the bust and possibly take a little wedge out of the neck and transfer it into the side bust dart.
Other than that I am so happy with this top and definitely have plans to make more, possibly even with lengthened sleeves with a cuff.