Monday, September 6, 2010

Review: Hot Patterns 1043

Hot Patterns Bo-Ho-De-Luxe Peasants Tops



From the HP Website: Sometimes you just want pretty, comfy and simple tops to make in a soft cotton, voile, chiffon or silk. You could even try these easy styles in a lightweight T-shirt fabric. Semi-fitted unlined tops feature gathered scoop necklines and finish just below the hips. Cap-sleeve Top has self bound neckline and sleeves and an applied drawstring at raised waist. 3/4 sleeve Top has shaped neckband, Raglan sleeves and narrow elasticated cuffs. Wear the cap-sleeve Top with some funky jeans and a neat fitted jacket, or try the 3/4 sleeve Top to soften a strict Pants or Skirt Suit.

Size: Multi-size 6-26
Skill Level: Beginner
Price: $13.95

===============================

The last two Hot Patterns I made didn't suit me because of their unfitted style. But I've had such great successes with other HP's and so I was disappointed and desperately wanted to break out of my current HP wadderville. I pulled out this pattern to see if it had some shaping that would flatter me instead of just cover me. It does, which may be surprising for a Peasant top, and I''m very relieved to say that this pattern was a success! Whew! I was beginning to doubt myself. ;-)

Here's my top, belted:



I did not follow the pattern instructions to attach a casing for the tie because I wanted to be able to wear it either cinched or loose. I previously made a Sunshine top with a separate belt option and find that I wear it both ways a lot, so I wanted the same option with this top. I added some of the solid purple from the border to the ends of the ties. Although they appear as two dark blobs in this photo, in real life they look nice and I like the bit of contrast.

I chose the short sleeve view with the bottom edge of the sleeve gathered onto a self-fabric band, instead of binding the bottom per the hem. My fabric, a very nice rayon border knit from Fabric Mart (sold out!), was a bit too bulky where it was gathered to do "real" binding so I chose the less fiddly method of just adding a band.



Here it is, unbelted. For the neckline I did not bind it with my coverstitch machine because those gathers just wanted to give the binders fits. Instead, I bound the edge manually and then used the CS machine to topstitch, trimming the excess binding from the back with duckbill scissors. Or maybe I'm just out of practice, having not used my CS machine for months. (Gasp!)



I know in the photos the print sorta looks like bullseyes on the girls, but it hits me a little differently than Zillie and isn't so In-Yer-Face. I'm glad I bought enough of this fabric to hoard for another top later. It's really nice stuff and good quality rayon print knits are hard to come by.

Notes about this pattern:

1. The neckline is on the wide side, as shown in the envelope drawings. I decided to go down one size at the neckline to keep the bra straps hidden. This was a good decision, as the neckline is just how I like it and I think one size bigger would've been a scootch too wide.

2. I did not do a traditional FBA and instead used my cheater method of starting with my shoulder size (16) and then blending outward to a bigger size at bust level (and then still bigger at butt level, but that's a usual alteration for me) .

3. The sleeve pattern was fine. I know earlier versions of this pattern had complaints about the drafting and marks for the sleeve pattern, but it's apparent that HP listens because there was nothing wrong with this version and it now had front and back notches (although I note there were no corresponding notches on the bodice pieces, but you hardly need them).

4. As noted by the Beginner label on the envelope, this is an easy pattern that goes together fast and doesn't require a lot (any?) fitting. This pattern was released before HP started with illustrated instructions, but unless you are a true rank beginner, you don't really need drawings with this one. Cut out the 3-4 pieces, gather the edges to fit as desired, sew them together, hem. Voila!

5. Mark the front or back inside the top so you don't put it on backwards. The front is more gathered than the back, but when you've got a busy print like this, you may not notice. Well, at least I didn't at first. ;-)

18 comments:

  1. Super cute top! I love that fabric, and am trying to decide what I'm going to do with my 2 yds...

    ReplyDelete
  2. I can't believe it! I was looking at this pattern this afternoon. Now, I know I'll make it. Your top looks fantastic -- love the fabric! Thanks for the suggestion to omit the casing. I also sometimes use ties and sometimes prefer to let the fabric hang loose. Your version looks good both ways.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love the top. I have the same fabric in blue and just used it to make a slip dress. I love this fabric and wish that I could find more.

    ReplyDelete
  4. It is hard to find a nice rayon print. The finished top looks nice!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Great fabric - a comfy yet stylish top!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Great, thanks for the review. I recently sewed a muslin for this pattern in a size 14 and it was huge in the shoulders - I'm normally a 16 in the big 4 - will try again and grade the pattern. Your version has inspired me to try again, thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Cute top, Debbie!

    But about your bread buddy--I'm sure you've already thought of this, but I'm saying it just in case you haven't. Please be sure to put a blurb about your pattern being for personal use only and not for commercial use. I know you've seen people on the net profiting from other people's work and I wouldn't want you to see your bread buddy being mass marketed by someone else. I've seen bread containers before, but I've never seen a collapsible tote for shopping purposes like yours before. That's a really great idea!

    Em

    ReplyDelete
  8. Forgot to add--please delete my earlier comment to this post and this one after you read them. Thanks.

    Em

    ReplyDelete
  9. I absolutely love the fabric you've used. The contrast trim works perfectly.

    ReplyDelete
  10. So pretty! Hmm, I have that pattern and I'm a sucker for peasant tops - why haven't I made it? And why is there never enough sewing time?

    ReplyDelete
  11. I also have some of this fabric. I love how you've used it!

    ReplyDelete
  12. That's a cute top. Personally, I like wovens and rayon is at the top of my love list. I'm glad it turned out well for you. We can really get down on ourselves when things don't go right.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Lovely top. The neckline border is very pretty.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Very pretty! I love it belted. That print is great! Too dang bad it's sold out. Grr

    ReplyDelete
  15. Gorgeous... Please could we see a shot of you in it?
    Susannah

    ReplyDelete
  16. I really like how you flipped the border upside down to use it around your neck. So pretty! Now that I have shoes that really go with my dress in this fabric, I can't stop wearing it. :) I hope you get just as much wear out of this adorable top!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for each and every comment. I appreciate them all, but I have to be honest and let you know that I'm usually bad about answering questions. I hope you understand that there just isn't enough time in the day to do everything I want to do.

To help keep spam comments under control, any comments to blog posts that are more than 30 days old are moderated and will not show up immediately.