Love those pouffy sleeves and ruffle!

This is a loose-fitting top with front ruffle, puff sleeves and gathered front, front and back yokes, and back neckline tie. There is a Sewalong in the form of articles with photos or video which were useful.

My bust size is 85cm which falls between XS and S, and although the Sewalong advises sizing down if in between due to the generous ease, I went with S knowing that the upper bust is often tight for me in patterns and RTW clothing. In fact my upper bust measurement is slightly bigger than my full bust. Along with a rounded back, I think this is where most of my fitting issues arise.

Size S was still too narrow across the chest, and after comparing to a sloper I had made a while back, I needed another 8cm across the width of the front yoke and front body pieces (4cm to the pattern piece as it is cut on the fold) so added this centrally. This also meant adding 8cm to the ruffle. I adjusted the neckline to continue the curve around the front. I then graded back down to size S at the waist on the side seams as there was a lot of volume after I’d added 8cm across the width.

I added 2.5 cm across the width of the back yoke piece (5cm total) without redrawing the neckline as it is horizontal where I widened it centrally. Due to the now lengthened neckline, I added another 13cm to the neckline piece (8cm extra from front yoke + 5cm back yoke).

I gave my rounded back more room by adding 1.5cm to each of the back yoke and back body pieces centrally, going to nothing at the armholes. This straightened out this seam a bit more, as it was curved down like a frown on my toile.

There was a small amount of gaping at the front armhole so I took 1cm excess out of the seam between the front yoke and front body pieces, going to nothing where the gathering on the front body piece started.

Most people won’t need to do much in the way of fitting as it is meant to be loose, but I just have different proportions with my upper bust and full bust. I did a blog post detailing all the adjustments I made, with photos of my toile as I went along.

I added 12cm length to the sleeves. If sewing it again, I’d add another couple of cm to the sleeve length as the elastic cuff just catches my elbow when I bend my arm up.

I love the ruffle, puff sleeves and back necktie. There was a lot of volume in the sleeves which I tamed by pressing right at the top of the armhole, but this was just personal preference. I would either use a more drapey fabric next time or take a little of the volume out. I like the deep hem which is 5cm folded over twice which gave my fabric a little more substance and weight, and the length of the top means it looks good untucked or with a French tuck. If tucking in all the way round, I’d probably want to add a little more length.

I used Liberty Tana Lawn Felda fabric, bought from the actual Liberty store. What an amazing place! The fabric is soft and smooth, and behaves well when sewing.

I did French seams all round including armholes and ruffle seams. The instructions recommended overlocking the ruffle seam but I was on holiday and hadn’t packed my overlocker, so I did a French seam instead. I was worried this would be bulky with the seam folded over twice, so I trimmed just the ruffle seam before doing the first pass, so it only got included in the second pass. If that doesn’t quite make sense, check out my blog post with a tutorial.

I think about sewing this pattern again in a gingham version or in a viscose dobby type of fabric. Would highly recommend, it’s a fairly simple sew.

I really enjoyed making this pattern and think it really suits ditsy floral prints like this. The puff sleeves are fab and fun, and the front ruffle is so cute. I generally don’t like to make patterns again because there are so many on my want-to-do list but I might make an exception for this one. There is a lot more detail on my blog with loads more photos.

Update 4th June 2022 – I made a second Sagebrush in double gauze gingham (absolutely lush!), making a few adjustments and taking a lot of volume out of the sleeves. Here is my blog post with the details of what I changed and why.