Butterick 5891 Another Artsy Top

 Here is another garment I made for the #SewJapanaseInJanuary Instagram challenge. And I must say, this has go to be my favorite, not only because of how it turned out but because the whole sewing process was so much fun!

It all started with the fabric--heavenly soft and hauntingly beautiful Japanese cotton double gauze from the 2020 Nano Iro line. This iteration is called "Waltz" and features floral themed print in muted dark tones of black, blue, gray and brown. Being double gauze it is made of two layers of very fine fabric. 

I have made Butterick 5891 in 2017 using another Japanese double gauze fabric. 

Although I loved this first version, I thought there was room for improvement in terms of fit and method of construction. 

Here are the construction modifications I made:

1. Collar

 

I added a facing to the collar. The pattern only used a single collar piece and had one finish the top edge by narrow hem. I thought it looked better this way especially when the wrong side shows when the top is worn with unbuttoned neckline. 

2. Center Front Facing

Instead of sewing the center front facing over the collar, I sewed the collar over the facing. 

3. Narrow bias binding on armholes

The pattern uses a 2" wide bias binding which was supposed to be folded in half then sewn to the armhole and then folded over. For my fabric, that method would not have worked well so instead I used a 1" bias binding and sewed it the way I knew how. 

I also tweaked the fit.

1. The first time  I made this pattern, I did not alter anything and found the top had way too much ease. I removed a total of 1-1/2" from both sides starting from the hemline tapering to nothing at the armhole. I had to make the same changes to the peplum.

 2. I made a 5/8" narrow shoulder adjustment. 

 Design Details

I added some decorative contrast stitching in the following areas:

Off-center back seam

Around the Mandarin collar following the attachment line of the other collar. 

Double topstitching where the peplum was attached to the bodice.

This time I followed the addition of pleats on the peplum. In my first version I skipped them. 

I played around with silver toned metal buttons, mixing and matching the different shapes. 

And now here is a look at the inside of the garment where you can also better appreciate the asymmetrical styling from the bodice to the peplum. 

And finally photos of the outside of the garment.