Sewing Project 003: Top - Mama Joy pattern

(apologies for the crappy first-thing-in-the-morning selfie!)

Pattern: Mama Joy by Made For Mermaids (http://www.madeformermaids.com/product/mamajoy/)

Who for: Me

Size: Orange (43"-46" bust)

Type: Tunic Top

Description: "This beautiful pleated pattern looks time consuming, but it is not! With VIDEO tutorial included for pleats, you’ll be able to quickly stitch together a stunning dress for yourself. Suitable for stable knit fabrics. Includes 2 necklines- high or low scoop. Perfect for year round wear with short, 3/4 and long sleeve options. Includes FIVE skirt options- high-low peplum, mini, dress, high-low maxi and maxi length. Add optional pockets to any skirt. Choose from 2 back options- a slip on style or zipper back. The zipper back can be worn backwards for even more options. " I chose the low scoop neckline option with no sleeves and made the skirt somewhere between peplum and mini.

Fabric: fine merino knit from Spotlight at $17.99/m

Notions: black thread

Modifications/Alterations: Since I only had a metre and a half of this lovely merino, I had to make a few choices based on how I was able to lay out the pattern. The skirt was shorter than I planned because I had to fit it onto the fabric, but I had enough extra yardage to create the pockets, neckband and make some bands to bind off the armscyes.

Results: I'm still deciding whether I like this or not. It's a useful wardrobe piece for winter at work and will be fine with a cardigan over the top but I feel like it makes me look very busty and dumpy - I think that's just me needing to come to terms with showing off my actual shape, though, rather than disguising it like I usually do. I had a few issues with sewing the fabric as it was so light it would get dragged into the feed, so I ended up doing mostly French seams which look very nice and gave me lots of practice. But when I was connecting the bodice to the skirt, I was worried about it being too short and making the waist seam too thick, so I ended just doing a normal seam and binding off the edge by hand. The armscyes came out messy because of the narrowness of the binding - I hemmed them by hand and you can tell, so I might end up sewing a second hem and unpicking the handstitching. The pockets are a bit useless and superfluous, but they were fun to try. I did learn to take things slowly and tack pieces together first instead of just using pins.

Notes for future makes: I'm not sure about making this pattern again. It's quite a good pattern and the instructions are very clear, but I just don't feel very comfortable with how the pleats come out from my body's most problematic area.