I was so lucky to be in the testing group for this pattern from See Kate Sew! I don’t know if you’ve ever pattern tested before, but often you don’t get to know much about the pattern before its sent to you to test. Of course, I had no doubts because Kate does such amazing things – and I was oh so pleased when I received this pattern! The top is a part of her SS14 Garden Party collection, and if you haven’t checked it out yet – I highly recommend it. The whole collection is simple and feminine, perfect for easy spring (or summer!) days.
Kate did some really clever things with this pattern. The ruffles are set into darts, which adds shape and makes for easy construction. In the back, the darts lead into separate panels – along with the horizontal seam, this opens up the pattern for lots of fun color blocking.
I didn’t exactly color block with this top, I.. surface-detail-blocked? Is that a thing? I had this tiny piece of embroidered fabric that I snagged when an internship I had was cleaning out their swatches and samples. I went home with lots of tiny pieces of beautiful fabrics that I was determined to use for contrast yokes, collars, pockets, etc. (they probably thought I was crazy). This particular piece was just so beautiful, I’ve been saving it for the most PERFECT thing. It took some serious cutting magic to get this long narrow strip of embroidery cut-out to fit just right into the middle back of this pattern, and I almost changed my mind because the linen on the embroidery fabric was just off-white enough to be pretty obvious against my white linen. I’m so glad I stuck through the frustration, because it turned out just beautiful!
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| Top: Callie Top – Self Made, Pants: JCrew, Shoes: TOMS, Earrings: Vintage, Leather Bow: American Apparel |
So… in the detail shots you can see I had some button-placement issues (note to self: don’t measure out your button placement in the wee hours of the night after a couple glasses of wine). The buttons were a gift that a friend found at a stoop sale – I like how they are all different and almost look like rocks. You can also see the slight contrast in the two linens. In the end I think it adds a nice rustic feel along with the mix-matched buttons. I also left the raw edges of the linen on the ruffles and just added a stay stitch to prevent over-fraying. The pin tucks in the front were a last-minute addition to get rid of a little too much body up front, they turned out to be a fun added detail.
You probably dont know this about me, but sometimes I try to pretend like I’m not really much of a girly-girl. Especially in winter, I tend to dress more menswear-inspired-prep. But when the warm weather comes out I just can’t hide the floral-loving, ruffle-wearing, bow-in-the-hair five year old that still lives inside of me. What can I say? You just feel better with a bow in your hair!
Pattern: Callie Top by See Kate Sew
Fabric: White Linen, Off-white Embroidered cut-out linen – both from stash
Notions: Vintage assorted buttons – all in stash
Difficulty: Intermediate
Adjustments:
– Added pintucks in front
– Lowered under arm about 1″ (my go-to adjustment)
– Shortened ruffle length by about 1 1/2″ (they were overwhelming my small frame)
Finishing: Serged seams, 1/4″hem, raw edged ruffles, bias binding to inside neckline
Time: 5 hrs
Sew it again? Oh yes! This top is so easy and comfortable. You can also do so many different variations on it, the color blocking and ruffle adjusting possibilities are endless.
Happy Sewing!
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