Belcarra in Black Crepe

I've been smitten with this pattern since Tasia announced it and I'm not normally one to buy a pattern as it's released but I couldn't resist with this one. It's the kind of pattern that will fill a hole in my handmade wardrobe. I love having tops like this that you can put on with jeans to wear out during the day or the night. It will also look great with some high waisted skirts so it's a winner all round in my books.

So the pattern. I made a muslin of this because I have about 4 versions in my head I want to make already. If I'm going to invest in a pattern that much it's worth the time to make a muslin even with a top as simple as this. My measurements fell pretty squarely into a 10 and the fit is fine everywhere. It's meant to be quite loose and flowy which I don't mind - great for lunches and dinners to hide your food belly! I did have a bit of trouble with the neckline binding which I'm pretty sure was partly due to working with a slippery fabric. The neckline binding is cut on the bias and once folded over it's about 2.5cm wide. You're meant to sew you're regular 1.5cm, trim the excess then turn over the remaining 1cm and stitch it down. This was a bit of a nightmare for me on my muslin so I'm glad I had a practise before busting out this fabric.

I bought this crepe fabric from a Spotlight Sale last year when I was planning my handmade wardrobe and I had originally planned to turn it into a Deer & Doe Datura. I'm really glad that life took over and this sat in my stash long enough for another, more perfect pattern to come along. I feel like it was meant to be on this one.

This top has french seams throughout even with the cuff - which was a bit more difficult when there's a bit of a pivot point at the bottom armhole seam. I took it slow and it all worked out fine. I conquered the neckline binding by sewing 1cm in, trimming the excess then turning the rest of the 1.5cm binding over to stitch it down. I felt I had much more control when I had a little more fabric to play with. Especially since it's on the bias and this is a slippery little crepe. I also took 5 centimetres off the length because it originally sat just above my crotch which, you can imagine, wasn't very flattering.

Overall I'm really happy with this top. I'm so glad I made a muslin and I'm so glad I took the time to french seam everything. I can now wear it on high rotation and not have to worry about it because I know it's so well enclosed.

This past week I planned to spend at least half an hour a night in my sewing room to see if I could get some sewing done after work. I'm pretty tired after an 8 hour day and long commute but once I forced myself into my sewing room I didn't spend less than an hour in there per night. So I managed to sew this top from start to finish in 4 x 1 hour sittings which I'm pretty proud of.

I'm a bit keen to sew ALL THE THINGS in the next couple of weeks because lockdown for the Wedding Dress starts in June so you may be seeing a lot of posts from me in the coming weeks!