How Not to Sew an Attractive Summer Top

Who needs the hassle and expense of waiting around for Simplicity patterns to go on sale when a free online pattern will work just as well? Yes, I was once that deluded and naive. And then I tried this Spring Ruffle Top Tutorial.

Photo from Made by Rae

See how easy and breezy she makes it look? With just a few measurements and some quick calculations you too can add a lovely top to your wardrobe. Assuming you enjoy looking like you're pregnant with Jabba the Hutt when in reality you've made the effort to lose 80 pounds and want to actually look like it. Oh how I wish I'd had the foresight to take a "before" picture so you could see how horribly misshapen this top made me look. In hindsight I should have been alarmed by the number of sewers proclaiming this to be a wonderful maternity shirt. I still can't quite figure out why mine doesn't look as good as the model's so I shall assume that, as always, it's my darn hips that ruin everything for me. Maybe this is the sort of top that doesn't work well on curvy girls. All I know is that it took me hours of ripped and re-sewn seams and a lot of haphazard sewing to whip this darn thing into shape so it's vaguely wearable by my standards.

Things I like about the top:

• The instructions are easy to follow with step-by-step photos.


• Takes very little time to make if you're actually happy with the results.


• The straps are wide enough to cover everything.


• Much of it is customizable. It's easy to omit things like the icky and girly ruffles and things like the pockets that remind me of something my mom would wear.

Things I do not like about the top:

• The fact that it makes even this child look like she's pregnant and has apparently given her the concomitant back pain.

Photo from Mle BB

Unfortunately I cut into some of my favorite Ikea fabric that I was hoarding for the top band, which I deeply regret now. The main fabric was something I bought with a 50% off Jo-Ann coupon so no big loss there even though I do like the design a lot. I got so frustrated that I put this project away for a few weeks until I felt I could face it again. In an effort to salvage the top I tried exaggerating the curve in the shaping step (step 9), which made the top too tight in some areas so those seams had to be ripped out. Several times, in fact, since I kept thinking I could make it work with some adjustment. I tried removing some of the pleats and spaced out the back pleats a little differently, which helped a bit but didn't fully fix the problem. Finally I wound up sewing almost all the way down the front pleats to bring the fabric in a little more and give the top some shape. Sadly this is the best I could do. I'm sure I'll wear this top once in a while but it certainly won't be my first pick from the closet.

Simplicity 4076

Sew, Mama, Sew's Make It, Wear It! Challenge couldn't have come at a better time. I'd just gotten brave enough to make my first article of clothing in May so I was on a roll by the time June came around. As much as I like having the chance of winning a prize, what I've enjoyed most has been seeing other people's submissions. One that caught my eye was Corvus Tristis' Simplicity 4076 tank top. I've been looking for a simple tank pattern with a little flair and even better that this one could be sewn in just one morning. I'd actually passed this pattern in the book a month ago and wrote it off as looking too '90s but she makes it look fresh and modern. Glad she opened my eyes to the possibilities.

Jo-Ann's Simplicity pattern sale happened to coincide with a 50% off clearance fabric sale so I nabbed both the pattern and the fabric for less than $5. Imagine how pleased I was when I got the pattern open to discover that I only needed to cut these three pieces for view F:



Of course I neglected to notice that the amount of fabric listed on the back of the pattern was for 60" fabric and what I'd bought was closer to 45". Oops. As a result I barely had enough and had to strategically position the pattern pieces to make it work. I'd planned to make it a few inches longer than the pattern called for since it seems short from the envelope drawings and my torso is a little longer than average, but because of my mistake I wasn't able to do that this time around. A pity because I think mine could use the extra length.

Sewing it up was pretty simple and straightforward. The twist effect is a neat little design achieved by threading one side's strap and upper bodice piece through an opening in the other side.

Hard to describe; easy to do.

My only complaints (aside from the length, which is more of a personal preference) are that my bra likes to play peekaboo over the top when the tank slips around just right and that I couldn't get the back neckline to lie flat. This could be due to my inexperience with sewing knits and it's not bad enough to put me off of wearing the shirt, but it's something I'm hoping to correct the next time around.


Despite how simple this pattern is I'm not sure it'll become my go-to tank top. Something about the high neckline in the back and the short length makes me feel like it's something an older, more conservative person who isn't up on current fashion would wear (Hi, Mama!). Once I have a little more experience sewing clothes I'm hoping I can adjust this and the other Simplicity top pattern I've tried so the back's a little lower. I don't do all that work with the free weights for nothing, after all!