Not a fan of Billie

I like a statement sleeve so I bought the Billie pattern when it came out.  I made the bell sleeve top version and I felt swamped by the huge sleeves.  Now I love a statement sleeve but these were just too big.  So I took a lot of the width out around the cuff to make the sleeve narrower, and the garment more wearable for me.  The next issue though was that I felt like I was being strangled – the neckband was too high and too tight.  So I took it out, lowered the neckline a bit, and sewed in a new narrower neckband.  So after all that I have a top which is fine, but I don’t love it.  I think if I wanted another statement sleeve top I would make the Somerset from Maven Patterns again instead.

What I would say though is that the pattern instructions are as ever absolutely spot on, and the instructions for gathering and attached the sleeves is excellent, and if I make another Somerset I will use the gathering technique from the Billie rather than following the Somerset pattern instructions and using shirring elastic.

https://sewminigems.wordpress.com/2021/01/03/billie-sweatshirt-with-balloon-sleeves/