A Lacy Laurel

I\’m saving my dress reveal for Julia Bobbin\’s second Mad Men Challenge (I\’m In! and making Several Items! by the way), but today I have a lacy version of V. 4, the top. Version 4 is a blouse (basically just the dress lopped off at top length) with elbow-ish length sleeves and no zip, which is great. It has two pattern pieces along with darts front and back, so it was really easy to whip this up in a little over an hour. My dress is made in a slightly stretchy fabric (cotton sateen-y?) so I was concerned this top would be a little snug, but it fit perfectly. This is a size zero, by the way.

Taken at Videri Chocolate Factory!

I made mine a breezy summer shell in a 100% cotton eyelet picked up for 30% off at Joann\’s. It is unlined–in the photos I\’m wearing a tan tank top underneath. I left the sleeves off, since I\’ll almost always be wearing this with a cardigan, as I do with all of my clothing, and sleeves seemed like more trouble that they\’re worth, especially since I couldn\’t get them to ease nicely in my dress–and then couldn\’t determine whether or not they are actually intended to have a slight puff!

interior finish–ignore those threads and look and my nice french seams!

rolled neck hem!

dramatic angle brought to you by a tall boyfriend

I lengthened it by 2 inches, since my first sorbetto looked like a crop top, and I had to add about a million inches to my second. It seems like it would have been a reasonable length left alone, though, and I\’m 5\’7\”. I cut on average an inch off in my trimming of the bottom lace. I\’m not convinced I like my lace \”edging,\” and I have a little wiggle room, so I still may go back and hem it straight. What do you think?

One issue I had with the pattern is that for the top version, they omit the zipper, but neglected to eliminate the back seam. I did this myself in approximately 1 minute, but it seems like an oversight. Another is that it would be really simple to give instructions on leaving it sleeveless. I understand a lot of people don\’t need instructions for that, but it would have been nice to include for beginners, especially since this is a super easy pattern labeled right for them!

Overall, this is an expensive pattern for what it is, but I\’m finding it well worth the purchase price: it seems to fit me very well right out of the packet, and I think I will make it many times over!

Facts!
Fabric: slightly less than 1 yard cotton eyelet
Pattern: Laurel from Colette
Year: 2013
Notions: none
Time to complete: 1.5 hours
First worn:
Wear again?
Make again?
Cost: fabric for $13 and pattern for $18 but I\’ve already made it twice, so… $23?

I have three more yards of this eyelet left–you\’ll be seeing it again 🙂