Project 12 – November: Megan Nielson Wrap Top

Wait!  How can it be December already?  I finished up my November Project 12 project Monday night, but couldn’t snag my husband for a photo shoot until he was home for a quick lunch break today.  I imagine there are very few women whose husbands say “let me set up a couple of lights” when asked to take a picture of their latest sewing project. I love being married to a video nerd. 🙂

November’s project was Megan Nielson’s Wrap Top.  I have mixed feelings about how it turned out. I think it is a really fun design.  Megan Nielson based it on Isabelle Oliver’s wrap top. In the end though, I have some reservations about recommending the pattern.

The sleeve pattern piece does not have any front/back markings.  Notice the single and double notches on the Simplicity pattern laid on top of the MN pattern – single for front, double for back, and a small circle at the top for matching to the shoulder seam.  These are important because the “armscye curve” is not symmetrical.  A more experience sewist might not have a problem telling the right sleeve from the left, but a beginner could easily put them on backwards. I think I was able to figure it out, but I’m not 100% sure I did it correctly. (For more info about how a sleeve is drafted, see ikat bag’s drafting series.) The sleeves were a kind of awkward fit for my upper arm as well. Perhaps, narrowing the sleeve opening would help.

EDIT: At this point, I think this was also a fabric issue, this rayon has some major vertical drape going on.

The sewing pattern does not include finished edges.  The assumption is that knits to do not unravel and with so much to hem it is better to leave it off.  I decided to follow the directions and leave it un-hemmed.  After I had finished the shirt, I regretted my decision.  I was worried about the stress to the neckline edge in this cheap fabric and some of my edges were rough from poor cutting.  I ended up using fold over elastic as a facing just along the neckline. It was very similar to this bias tape facing technique. It would have worked better if I had not stretched the elastic so much while sewing it down, but it didn’t turn out too badly.

I think the wrap style is super cute, but I don’t think it is very suitable for chasing after three young children. It is much more of a date-night shirt. I wasn’t really thinking through this when I was planning out this project. Today, I wore it over a close-fitting cami tucked into my pants.  This prevented slipping and gave more coverage at the neckline.

This pattern requires a jersey fabric with 40% stretch and I chose the same rayon-spandex blend as my Cozy Cardi.  It is very very clingy. Perhaps a heavier knit fabric would leave me feeling less exposed, smooth out any back lumps, and possibly solve my hem worries as well.

On a more positive note…
Exciting Things About This Project:

• I saw this pattern when my youngest was a newborn.  I downloaded it then and saved it for a future pregnancy (This one!). It is such a fun look. I am happy to have had a chance to try it out.
• I am getting better at cutting and assembling knits.  Practice makes perfect.
• I’m pretty happy with my fold over elastic hemming technique.  It solved the problem even if I executed it poorly.
• This was really a quick project.  Without hemming, it is four straight seams and two sleeves. I prepped in one evening and sewed it together the next.

So, one more month left to the end of Project 12.  What a year has it been!