Stash Shopping for a Drop Sleeve Top
Every year I put myself on a fabric ban. Although most of the year I’m really good at not jumping on every sale I come across, I still end up running out of space. I’ve continued to support independent companies for my haberdashery needs, but for fabric I’ve once again chosen to shop my stash instead.
I've really enjoyed browsing through my collection and have uncovered some amazing gems including this Atelier Brunette’s “Bye Bye Birdie” in navy. It’s a gorgeous soft and silky cotton lawn with white origami print, bringing a touch of modern originality and memories from when I bought this at a Sew Over It party in their Clapham shop.
Even though this fabric brings back so many great memories, I feel like I’ve outgrown it. Yet I don’t want to give it away. It’s hard to say what has changed, and how, but I’ve decided to make Avid Seamstress’ free Drop Sleeve Top for a friend. To say I own quite a few indie patterns would be an understatement, but there has also been a point where I’ve let my printing orders get out of hand, printing far more than I could sew. So in order to help me reign it in a little I’ve decided to only sew patterns from my pre-printed collection.
Avid Seamstress’ Drop Sleeve Top is described as the perfect first project for beginners, a relaxed fit top with elbow-length sleeves and fastened at the back with a simple button and loop.
I have to say that I was disappointed by the pattern and if I were a beginner might not have found it a fun sewing experience. Here are a few issues that I found:
There was no guidance on finishing the seams. I could clearly see in the images that all edges had already been finished with an overlocker, but there was no mention on how to finish them. As I used a cotton lawn, my fabric frayed slightly, but I went ahead and finished the seams as I normally would.
The seam allowances change per seam, which means that you constantly need to be checking the instructions. I sewed the whole garment using a 1.5cm seam allowance.
The instructions were confusing and at points didn’t add to what was happening in the photographed steps.
The PDF instructions aren’t laid out like normal pages but on a double spread, which doesn't allow you to move easily from one page to the next. I only accidentally found the other half of the pages when I was trying to resize a different window on my screen. My previous sewing experience meant that I had been able to complete the top without access to the full instructions, but if I was a beginner I would likely have abandoned the project altogether.
Reviewing the full instructions I felt that some of the points were very thorough - perhaps excessively so and in other points, they were lacking. Due to this I won’t rate my experience as being that good as I guessed most of the instructions and would standby my previous point in saying that if I were a beginner, I might have not found make as clear as some other indie pattern companies.
Initially, when making the top, I was going to add cuffs to the sleeves as I didn’t like having non-matching thread and felt that my topstitching skills weren’t great. In the end I just finished my raw edges with an overlocker and turned it up as suggested in the instructions. My top stitching wasn’t too bad and was, mostly, quite straight.
I’m glad that I’ve made this top but my experience of the pattern doesn’t fill me with confidence that I would want to take on any of their other patterns. I can see this pattern as a helpful stash buster, especially for scraps, and would look really nice colour blocked or even with different fabrics. I’m really glad that I’ve been able to find another use for fabric that I thought I had outgrown. I really enjoy making things for my friends who will end up using what I make for them. This process has allowed me to also see my fabrics in a different light for other projects too.
