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Here are the line drawings. I made view B using shirring instead of elastic at the sides. I love shirring, it's so much fun, and I'm happy when I find patterns I I can use it on!
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I added 2" to the length on the front, back, and facings. Those darts are crooked where I drew them in, but I straightened them out when I pinned the fabric.
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My rayon challis was thin and easily frayed, so I wanted my interfacing to cover the facings and be sewn into the seam allowance. A little trick is to cut the notches in the interfacing so they don't cover the ones in the fabric.
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The facings were odd shaped and long, so I like to pin into the ironing board along the edge to hold it in place while securing the other side with the iron. I'm using an organza press cloth, though you can barely see it!
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Here is the interfaced and serged facing attached to the bodice. That was one long facing and a PITA!
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The pattern wants you to cut 4 sleeves, 2 are for a facing, to make a clean hem. I didn't have enough fabric so I used 1/2" single fold bias tape, turned it under and topstitched.
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The top picture is the inside after attaching the bias tape, and the bottom pic is the outside after turning the tape under and pressing.
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Usually I alter the sleeve to remove excess cap ease, but I didn't this time. Instead I ran one line of shirring about 1/4" from the edge. You can do this notch to notch if you want, but I left some space and made my line shorter.
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Gently stretch and ease the cap from the needle to the next pin as you sew the sleeve to the opening, taking the pins out as you go. I always sew sleeves in flat unless it's a pattern that has to have set in sleeves.
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Before serging (or otherwise finishing) the sleeve seam, take out the line of shirring. The elastic thread is thick, stretchy, and easy to remove with small sharp scissors.
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Here I'm serging the sleeve seam. Rayon frays like crazy so there's nothing like a serger to stop it in it's tracks!
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The last step to a smooth sleeve is to press it. I use a ham for those curves and finger press while it's still hot and damp from the steam iron.
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Here is a back view of my finished sleeve and you can't even see the seam! I lucked out that the pattern kind of blended there. Lol.
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Instead of elastic from front dart to back dart at the waist on each side, I'm going to sew 3 lines of shirring fairly close together. Here I am using a clear ruler to mark one line only. I did this on both sides at the waistline.
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I've backstitched and sewn one line here. You can see the shirring on the right. I pivoted my needle and walked the hand wheel to make 3 stitches at the end of my chalk mark toward the hem. The machine is set at a 4.0 length and 8.0 upper tension.
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For the second line I just continued down, stretching the fabric flat and sewing parallel to the first line of shirring.
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At the end of the second line I pivoted and hand walked 3 stitches again, and pivoted to make the third and final line. I backstitched at the end plus tied a knot in the elastic before trimming the excess off.
SewLibra:
When using elastic thread in your bobbin, make sure to pull on the elastic instead of your fabric when you remove your work from the machine. Otherwise, it's hard on your fabric and could tear it or stretch it out!
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Now hold an iron a couple of inches above the shirring and give it 2 or 3 shots of steam. This will tighten the shirring further. Just don't get too close or you might ruin the elastic thread!
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The front of this top has a curved center front and the buttonhole guide is not going to work for me. I need more buttons and in different places. I also prefer vertical buttonholes for shirt fronts and this one has horizontal placement.
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I traced the buttonhole guide and marked the center front. If it isn't provided just trace the outline of the garment and mark the CF. Try on the top and put pins where you want buttonholes, starting with the bust. Try to space the pins evenly.
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Make a sample buttonhole on a scrap using a button that you have selected for your garment. Measure the length of the buttonhole.
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Mark a dot on the paper's CF line where your pins are. Use a seam guide to check that they are spaced evenly. Mine came out at 3 1/2" apart. Note that other patterns will not have buttonholes on the CF line, but curved edges like this are different!
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Using a ruler, mark your buttonholes the same length as your sample buttonhole, putting the centers of the buttonholes on the dots. I changed that top one later to be parallel to the fabric edge. I noticed my error when I went to sew it. Ha!
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To mark your fabric start at the bottom and fold up your paper as you go along. I mark the two horizontal lines and then connect them with a vertical line so they end up looking like what's on the paper.
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If you make a mistake, a rolled up pair of nylon knee highs works wonders! It also takes deodorant marks off your clothes in no time flat, and no lint.
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If you turn the guide wrong side out on the button side, you can mark where your buttons go. To test that theory I marked my button placement my old way laying it out flat and double checking on a hanger.
