Amy Butler Pattern Success

  nearly finished 
  Originally uploaded by emira.

I promise to fill you in on the minor downs and major ups (we can brush our teeth in the bathroom!) of our Monday plumber adventures soon (I haven't been home at reasonable hours for photo taking this week), but first: a completed project! Back when summer was merely and evening day dream as days got longer and fair weather cyclists like myself started stretching their legs, I got all ambitious. "I will make a bevvy of breezey summer tops to herald in the heat!" I declared. And off I set for the Fabricana annual sale, Amy Butler Cabo Halter directions in hand. That day I bought a near shameful amount of fabric, and then proceeded to stick in a heap in the back office while other things occupied my time. The best of intentions right?

With mid-July rapidly approaching, I decided I two weekends ago that I simply must get off my butt and get at least one top done in time for "the season" as it were. And to my delight and surprise it took almost no time at all.

I started by making a rough muslin because while the Amy Butler directions said I was a size XS, I wasn't convinced (turns out I am) and couldn't bear the thought of cutting a top out of this lovely japanese print that ended up too small for me to enjoy. So I grabbed some old bed sheets that had been part of another project years ago and used them to make a rough draft. After some very akward attempts to pin myself into it (up the back) being the only one home at the time, I determined that indeed the size XS fit me to a tee and proceeded to cut out my final fabric. This version of course took a bit longer as I had to actually line it, and pay a bit closer attention to what I was doing so as not to muck it up, but all in all the whole project took a morning. Not bad.

Now, I say the whole project, but of course I discovered that day that I didn't have a zipper the correct length, so the so-close-to-being-done-I-can-taste-it top hung on my bedroom door for a week or so until I found the time to get a zipper and then sew it in, which I did last night. I'm wearing it today, but left far too early this morning to bother a still sleeping Martin with the joys of self-indulgent mirror fashion photos, so this one of the top in process will have to do for now.

My final verdict: this top was extremely easy to make, and is a joy to wear. It hangs really nicely, and the fit (for me) was really bang on. My only complaint is that the directions don't really leave you with a well finished top (lots of exposed seams inside), and if you had some forsight (unlike me) and did things a bit differently, you'd have a much more professional finished product. That said, it would also take an hour or two more, so there's your trade off.

I do have more fabric to choose from if  I decide to make another one this summer, though they're all prints and I'm thinking I would actually love to have this in a nice white eyelet. I may need to visit the fabric store on my lunch break...