Spring Top Sewalong!!

 Woooo!  The Made-By-Rae Spring Top Sewalong is underway!  This challenge has been going on since 2009, and I've known about it since 2009, but my lazy butt just hasn't acted on it until now.  And I kind of feel like I might attempt to make up for lost years by submitting a few tops...but we'll see.  BTW, have you visited Made-By-Rae's website?  She provided the free pattern and tutorial for the Buttercup Bag that I made for the Winter Pinterest Challenge (and OMG, my bag was featured on The Great Indoors as part of her Challenge Wrap-Up -- weeeeeee!!). 

   

I had been wanting to make a top based off this dress pattern for about two years.  I had made this dress back in 2010 for a friend's wedding, and I love it so much, but it's a little too fancy to wear to work, and I don't have many fancy outings to attend in my daily life. 

I did wear it for a family photo shoot last summer though...

Photo Credit: Natalie Champa Jennings
http://www.nataliechampajennings.com/

I had a lot (like, a lot a lot) of fabric leftover from the wedding card box I made, and I didn't want it to go to waste.  It's a great weight, and while eggplant is not exactly a spring color, it's still gorgeous and a color that I will wear any time of year.  In order to punch it up a little, I figured binding the edges with a contrasting color would make it fun and fresh.

Because this pattern was for a dress, I had to do some guestimating and self-measuring to determine the correct length for the shirt.  Well, I underestimated the length, and this shirt was on a fast track to being a crop-top.  Not a trend I am interested in trying to bring back.

Measure twice, cut once, Leah!  Dangit! 

I thought about scrapping it all together.  The combination of the non-spring color, the botched length, perfect time to bail out and start anew.  But I've seen enough Project Runway episodes where the designers either didn't have enough fabric, or cut patterns all wrong, they still sent something down the runway, and so would I.

I cut two 5" strips to extend the length of the top, kept calm and carried on.

I should mention here that I actually cheated on the assembly of this top.  The pattern calls for some facing on the front and back, and I had LOST the pattern pieces at some point.  The pattern also calls for the sleeves to have a lining, but I skipped that too.  Instead, I opted to use double fold bias tape as a fake hem.  Is that cheating?  Sometimes I think so, but it looks so clean and finished so it's hard to pass up.

So here is the finished product.  I'm curious - is it "Spring-y" enough to enter in the Spring Top Sewalong 2012?  I feel like without the shoulder cut-outs, it probably wouldn't fly for Spring, but with the additional skin showing, it makes it a little flirty, no?

I adore the cut-out look, and I think I will make at least one more top from this pattern, probably using a lighter fabric, such as cotton, with a brighter color scheme, maybe even a print.