Paco Peralta Draped Top Pattern

This weekend I was browsing through my old digital photos and chanced upon a picture of my daughter wearing a draped top that I have sewn six years ago. It was based off a Paco Peralta pattern and originally meant for me. However I thought it suited her better so I gave it to her and up to now, I still see her wear that top every now and then. So I decided to revisit the pattern and sew myself a wearable muslin using a matte jersey fabric from my stash.

About the pattern:

Six years ago when I purchased this pattern, it did not have the sleeve option. I bought it from the designer’s Etsy shop at bcnuniquepatterns. Unlike commercial printed patterns, this one was hand drawn by the designer on a medium weight onion skin paper. 

It is multisized but available only in four sizes—S (bust of 31.5”), M (34.5”), L (37.5”), XL (40.5”). There are no instructions included. However there are only four pattern pieces and the construction is simple enough to figure out. And 5/8” seam allowances are already included.

Construction Notes:

As mentioned above, there are only four pattern pieces:

*upper front that has a self facing which forms part of the draped neckline

*lower front which has a v-shaped upper edge

Shown here, the lower front piece is laid out on the fabric fold. 

*back which is cut in two pieces, although one may also cut this on the fold

*back facing which I interfaced with a lightweight tricot interfacing since my fabric was a jersey

Order of construction:

1.       Stabilize the neckline edges by staystitching.

2.       Reinforce around the perimeter of the V-shaped edges in both upper and lower front pieces.

3.       Sew the two front pieces together along the V seam. To reinforce the area near the center of the V, sew small stitches about one inch on both sides of the center. Clip the center of the V in the lower front making sure not to clip the stitching.

4.       Sew the two back pieces along center back.

5.       Sew the back facing to the back neckline. 
        Note: If your fabric is woven, you may need to put invisible zipper at the center back seam. You can choose to sew the center back seam along the length of the back facing then leave the rest open for the zipper. 

6.       Sew front to back along shoulder seams continuing to the corresponding shoulder seams of the back facing and the front self facing. Understitch the back facing to help stop rolling to the outside. Tack the facing to the shoulder seams. 

7.       Sew the side seams.

8.       Finish the armhole edges and the bottom hem. In my case, I used a bias cut strip of self fabric to bind the armhole edges. Then I just used blindstitch to hem the bottom of the top.

9.       Since I used matte jersey, I just finished the edges with my serger. If I had used silk I would have probably underlined it then added a lining.

View of the V-shaped seam between upper and lower front. 

View of the right side of the front after V seam has been pressed.

The interfaced back facing sewn to the back neckline. 

View of the shoulder seam (the closer to the bottom) and the seam joining the back facing and front self-facing. 

Understitch the back facing. 

And now here are some photos of the finished top:

This dressform is more well endowed than me.

I played around with the different settings of the Iphone's portrait mode. This stage lighting can be really dramatic!

Finally here's a picture of my daughter when she visited us. She's wearing the first version of the draped top I made in ITY fabric. 

My review of the pattern can also be found at Pattern Review.

Revisiting Vogue 8793

Two years ago, I sewed Vogue 8793 and posted about it here. Although I was smitten with the collar.  I wasn't too happy with the resulting fit. I guess I could have tweaked it then but I wasn't too enthusiastic at the thought of unpicking some seams. I still wore the top even though the loose armhole and wide shoulders bothered me a bit. Last week I unpacked my fall/winter clothes and found that top and I decided to do something about it. I pinned around the armholes, shoulders, side seams and transferred the adjustments to my pattern and sewed a new version which is shown below.

I used a lightweight rayon jersey in mauve and mixed it with a gorgeous printed mesh knit. 

I didn't have a lot of the mesh print in my stash, just enough to use for one of the collars, the cuffs and the front. 

The pattern didn't really call for a double layer front but my main fabric was really thin and lightweight and I wanted to use my mesh print for something. 

As shown in the picture above, the mesh print didn't go all the way to the front side seams. 

To attach the mesh print to the front piece, I handbasted it before sewing with small zigzag stitches. 

For the collar piece, I ironed a tricot interfacing as the fabric was really flimsy. The tricot interfacing had the same amount of stretch as the fabric so it added a little bit of body without altering the stretch. 

Here is a closer view of the double collars. I wanted to add zipper accents but didn't have the right zipper in my stash. Anyway, I guess it was for the best as the zipper would have weighed the lightweight collars down. 

I really love how the fit turned out. I removed 5/8" from the shoulder width, adjusted the side seams near the armholes to remove too much ease and adjusted the sleeves accordingly. I also added 1" to the sleeve side seams from the elbow to the hem as I felt the sleeves too snug when I first made this pattern. 

The sleeves are still close fitting which is good as it would be easier to layer a sweater over the top. 

My complete pattern review can be viewed here

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