Simplicity 1462 - Turquoise floral fitted cotton top

It seems like I never have enough casual tops. Just when I find one I really like it gets a stain or a hole or a funky smell that just won't come out no matter how much it's laundered. Also I never want to make them. Why is this? Are they without challenge? Do I hate my top half and therefor never want to dress it? I'm going to have to remedy this. (But not in the immediate future. My current queue is all designer dresses and outerwear. Ha!)

This fabric is a beautiful cotton print from designer Anna Maria Horner and was purchased online a year or so ago. I bought it for my daughter but I loved the print so much that I decided to use it for myself instead. How selfish of me. In my defense I knew she would outgrow whatever I made for her in a single season. This way it can live forever in my closet.

I only had 1.5 yards of it and wanted something slightly structured. Simplicity 1462 has been in my stash for a few months now. I adore the cap sleeves in this version and the front ribbon embellishment. This floral is lineal and the pattern pieces needed to be carefully laid out so that the flowers lined up horizontally and no twinning occurred. The flowers aren't perfectly matched from seam to seam because that would be impossible in a princess seamed garment like this one. Rather I was trying to make it so no two flowers of the exact same were right next to each other. I was mostly successful.

In order to make a small bust adjustment without too much fiddling I cut the size 10 in the front through the bust tapering out to a 12 at the waist and below. The shoulders and back were cut in a 12 as well. It was a bit snug so I took only a 3/8" seam allowance at the sides. I cut 2" off the hemline and took a 2" hem. This shirt is drafted to be pretty long.

Those two flowers under my right arm aren't twins of each other but they do bug my eyes a little. Good thing that's under an arm where it's not too noticeable. When I attached the neckbinding and got the inside all slipstitched down, I noticed that the front and back neckline gaped away from my body. This is because the neckbinding that was drafted for this pattern is way too big. I carefully unpicked the whole thing - after a few gusty sighs - and cut 3/8" off the neckline, then reattached my binding. It would have been easier if I'd had more fabric to work with but I was on fabric fumes at this point. Happily this is a sturdy cotton and didn't give me too many problems. If you are contemplating making this pattern, I would go down about 2 sizes for the neck binding.

Dressform pictures:

This print is much more vivid and accurate in these inside shots. You'll definitely see me coming from a long way off!

I made french seams at every inside seam except the zipper side and the center front. For the center front I extended the slit facing down to the hemline to give the ribbon a sturdy place to be stitched to. It looks neater as well. The hem I whip-stitched by hand.

The pattern calls for bias tape to finish off the underarm seams. I couldn't find any to match and didn't have enough fabric to make bias facings, so I used some aqua silk crepe de chine left over from a failed project. I also used it to hong-kong finish the edges of the seam where the zipper in inserted, but it's not really visible from this picture.

That's the last of my warm weather sewing! It's still hot as anything here but I am moving on to fall now. I never get to all the cold weather projects I want to make because I get extremely busy with holiday preparation and then get tired of the cold really quickly and can't wait for summer. Every year my sewing mojo disappears around the new year too. This year I am starting early on long sleeves and outer wear and hope to make up some of those long planned winter garments.

My oldest and my youngest