Finished: Polka Dot Scarf Top (Jalie 2921 Knit Top, Take 2)

 My second Jalie 2921 Scarf-Collar Knit Top. Pros: It fits great! Also: Polka dots. Cons: The fabric is flimsy, see-through and not really all that stretchy. Also: My serger and my sewing machine hate me. Also: I forgot to match the dot pattern at the center seam.       

A few months ago between bouts of illness, my parents took little Z out on a Saturday and I vowed that I would actually sew—something fun, something simple, a quick tried and true pattern requiring no adjustments.

Yeah, so, that didn't work out. I don't know about you, but every time I get my serger and sewing machine out of storage after a long hiatus, they grump and crank and sulk and refuse to do a single thing I ask of them, toddler-style. So I spent five minutes adjusting the pattern (I wanted to make the three-quarter version this time), three hours swearing and crying over my serger as I rethreaded it twenty times and it kept eating needles... and maybe an hour or two actually constructing the top.

When I finally made my way over to the sewing machine, the revolt had spread—the cheapo flimsy fabric (a discount Fabric.com rayon-spandex blend) refused to take a twin-needle hem, and I just gave up. I wore the top unhemmed to the Brooklyn BurdaStyle Sewing Club the next day, but I didn't feel good about it and I certainly wasn't going to show YOU all.

Last night I was finally feeling perky enough to wrestle with the machine again, and I finally managed to get the thing hemmed—it's just a narrow zig-zag stitch, but it's barely visible and it works fine.

Sadly it is rather see-through, so while I'm showing it here untucked, I'll probably need to tuck it in and wear it with a cardigan at work so you can't see my skirt or pants or bra straps through it. 

Here are the details again—a bit abbreviated, since I've already made it (blogged here).

The pattern: Jalie 2921, the ever-popular scarf collar top.

Pattern Description: Close-fitting (negative ease, baby!) v-neck knit top with various sleeve length and scarf collar options. Front is 2-piece.

Pattern Sizing: Includes wide range of sizes, from toddler girls to plus-size adult woman. I made the S (34" bust) overall, but as per Katie's tips traced the size V (37") for the bust and front sleeve armhole. (I have a 38.5" bust, so I maybe should have gone up a bit more here given the not-so-stretchy fabric.)

I took it in at the waist a bit as well to remove the positive ease that bugs me on my other version, but I may have overdone it... From the back I feel like it looks a bit too snug (also, my waist looks way smaller in the back than the front? Weird):

Fabric: A cream and red polka dot rayon/poly/spandex blend from Fabric.com that I probably should have just returned when I received it but didn't bother. Flimsy, thin, see-through, not much stretch and wrinkly and rumply. The original description read "This stretch jersey knit fabric has an ultra soft hand, a beautiful drape and about 40% stretch across the grain for added comfort and ease." Um, no. It does NOT have 40% stretch... and it's not all that soft compared to other rayons I have know and loved. Whatever.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: Did a cheater width FBA (see above link in sizing), took in the waist by an inch and added half an inch to the length, too.

Construction notes: All seams done on serger, and the hem and sleeve hems narrow zig-zagged on my conventional sewing machine with a ballpoint needle. Shoulder seams stabilized with 1-inch strips of self fabric.

Successes:

• I actually sewed something I can wear for the first time in MONTHS.

Lessons learned:

• Don't forget about pattern matching.
• Cheap fabric just isn't worth the trouble. I have so little precious sewing time, and I have many nicer fabrics in my stash—I just need to get over my fear of destroying them. I learned this with knits a while back—if I'm going to spend a year knitting a sweater, I'm not going to use cheap plasticky acrylic yarn.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? Yeah, done and done!

Wear to: Work (with a cardigan), home, weekend, mommy stuff, whatever. 

Full outfit details:

• Top: me-made, tie-neck knit red and cream polka-dot top (Jalie 2921), rayon/poly/spandex from Fabric.com.
• Corduroy skirt with flounce: Anthropologie
• Red Mary Jane heels: Camper, from forever ago
• Green Cat Eye Glasses: Bevel. 

Side photo note... I originally tried taking all the photos near the window in front of my polka dot couch, but the background was so distracting I gave up. It's the same couch I've always had, but my mom covered it for me (in less than a day!) with some other Fabric.com fabric since I was getting sick of the floral print.

And if you think my apartment looks remarkably clean and organized considering how rough things have been around here, that is because I use the handy crop tool on all my photos. This is probably a much more accurate picture of my life—crap piled everywhere!—complete with a toddler photo bomb:

OK, I'm off to the Colette Patterns cocktail party at Brooklyn General that starts in ... half an hour! See some of you there?