McCall’s 6963 Sequined Top

This project was made with fabric gifted to me by Minerva Fabrics in exchange for a post on their site. You can check that post out here. I say all that first because that is the reason behind choosing the pattern I chose. For this McCall’s 6963 sequined top, I wanted something without a lot of details. This green sequined fabric has enough sparkle on its own!

For my McCall’s 6963 sequined top, I made View B with 3/4 sleeves (View C). In all honesty, the older I get, the more I appreciate 3/4 sleeves. I used to hate them when I was younger. But now I find myself making them more often.

One Change

Anyway, this is a pattern I’ve had for quite a while and never made. The only alteration I made to the pattern was to make a full bust adjustment (FBA). I only increased the size by 1″. In the future, I would increase it more. But it’s also important to note that this material doesn’t have a tremendous amount of stretch, although it has enough. It’s a stretch velvet. Something like an ITY knit with a four-way stretch would yield a different result.

The pattern is an easy make. I did use my serger and had no problems going through the sequins which are more like shiny dots. Here’s what happened the last time I sewed sequins. If you don’t have a serger, you could easily make this with a regular machine and a zigzag stitch.

One Issue With Pattern

The only issue I had with the pattern is that the instructions call for gathering the sleeve cap. For me with a knit fabric, I see it as unnecessary. So of course, I didn’t do it. I inserted the sleeve flat (as I always do). You do end up with some gathers which I just spaced evenly.

The style is simple. The cowl neckline adds a nice detail. This is a top that can be made in a couple of hours. Sometimes we need those projects that are a quick, easy make and this is one of those.

The Rivington T-shirt

This post is going to have a lot of photos show I can show you some of the many ways I made this top. The Rivington T-shirt is one of the latest pattens from Sewing and the City patterns. As soon as I saw it, I wanted it! I am a sucker for a great T-shirt and have taken to making my own.

If you aren’t familiar, this is a PDF pattern that is both V-neck and crew neck (I do love having both in one pattern).

The first one I made was this golden yellow V-neck. I used an interlock knit I had in my stash for this one.

This one I consider a wearable muslin. I made changes to the pattern to get the perfect fit for me. I added a full bust adjustment. That really gives me the room I need.

This greenish gray T is one of my favorites. The V is made correctly, the FBA works, and the fabric is another stash fabric that’s a lightweight knit. I also raised the neckline on this shirt which makes me much more comfortable wearing it.

*Note: if you make a V-neck top, take your time with the V. It can really make a difference (in a good way).

I also made the crewneck version of The Rivington T-shirt. I did an FBA on this one, of course, since it’s the same size as the other version. But the this one is pretty much the “perfect” crew neck top.

I bought this fabric locally on sale. It’s a lightweight knit. And I just loved the daisy print!

I definitely need to make more of these in solid colors.

The Pattern Hack

The Rivington T-shirt crew neck hacked front with lace

This one is a “hack” of the pattern that I did on the crew neck version. Both of these fabrics I had in my stash. In fact, I’ve had this stretch lace for years! But it matched perfectly with the green interlock knit I had. Instead of using the neckband, I measured around the neckline to determine how long I needed to make this collar. I think the width is about 6 inches (approximately 3″ folded in half). Then I just attached it to the neckline. I wanted the sleeves to have the lace as well.

This one was just a fun project to do.

Conclusion

These shirts can be put together is a couple of hours. While I did use my serger for these, I have made plenty of knit tops without using one. So, don’t let NOT having a serger stop you! I urge you to give this a try. If you want to learn how to sew with knit fabrics but have some apprehension about it, a T-shirt is something I think is a great first project.

More Hacks for the Ruched-T

In my quest to buy few patterns this year, I have been working on my pattern-hacking skills. Most recently, I remade one of my favorite T-shirt patterns which is by Angela Wolf called the ruched tee. I blogged about it before in these posts here and here. After having done the RTW fast for 3 years total, I am far more inclined to make what I want than buy. But this time, I wanted to change up the sleeve a bit.

I wanted to give the sleeve a flutter look by fanning it out (I’ll show you the pattern piece in a bit). The yellow was my first attempt at doing this.

While I was happy with this one, I wanted more. So I reshaped the pattern piece again and this was the result I was looking for.

While the difference looks subtle, I got more of a full look with this one.

Top: regular pattern piece (pink top)
Bottom: pattern piece slashed and spread (yellow top)

For the blue top, I spread the slashed pieces out more and also lengthened the sleeve by 1-1/2″. Doing something like this is really easy. You just need to decide how dramatic you want the sleeve to look and spread accordingly. Cut to, but not though the top of the pattern so you can spread the pieces easily. Also make sure you have a piece of paper underneath the pattern because you’ll need to tape it down once you’ve gotten it the way you want.

That’s all there is to it. And the great thing about this is the top of the pattern stays the same so there shouldn’t be a need for additional adjustments to make the sleeve fit. This can be done on knits, like I have done, or on woven fabrics as well! Let me know if you give this technique a try. It’s an easy way to give a pattern a slightly different look.