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Friday 3 April 2015

Style Arc Madeleine top

This was the March freebie and I liked it enough to finally get around to ordering a few Style Arc dresses I have wanted for a while.  One of the drawbacks of not being very inspired by Burda's recent magazines is that it seems I still need to get a pattern fix from somewhere!



The pattern is designed for ponte knits and for this test version I used some leftover knit from my stash that is a slightly lighter weight and with more stretch than a ponte which I think affected how this top turned out.  You really do need something quite non drapy for that front band to work properly.  Still, I like it enough to make another in either a ponte or stretch woven.  I think it would also make a great sheath dress by simply extending the lower bodice pieces.

My favourite part of this pattern is how the front wraps over the shoulders to form the sleeve, although I spent a bit of time thinking I must have thrown the sleeve pattern piece away before I realised how it worked!  Doh!



Construction is much more straightforward than I assumed.  The front band is applied separately to the bodice, covering the waist seam and caught in the side seams.  I needed to tighten the band up a bit to make it stay in place (my fabric choice is a big factor here though) and as suggested in the instructions also tacked it in a few places.  I need to take some width out of the lower centre front too, you can see there is too much fabric there now that I have mucked around with the side seams / band placement.


Next time I will make the front band as a tube rather than just folding in the edges, I can't see that ever staying in place so on this version I went back and stitched the fold down to the waist seam allowance.  Lastly I found I didn't need to use a zip so you could in theory eliminate the centre back seam depending on the stretch of your fabric although it may be useful to add some shaping.



Finally, Clothing Engineer, who makes a lot of Style Arc patterns also just posted this top (also in navy!) and has great tips in case you need to adjust for gaping armholes and neckline.  I didn't find this to be an issue at all for me, funnily enough it's the one place the top fits well!  For reference I used a size 10.




11 comments:

  1. Very interesting top and the lines are quite deceptive. A great looking top.

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  2. Very flattering top. Lovely to see this pattern made up.

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  3. Wow, this is a really lovely, flattering top on you! Very nice!

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  4. I saw her post earlier in the day and you both look good in this top. Nice details.

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  5. Lovely. And as you say, it would make a great dress too.

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  6. The draping is really effective. It would make a great dress and easy to add sleeves for a winter version.

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  7. Allison,

    That is a super-flattering top on you! Looks beautiful with your skirt, too!

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  8. You did a great job, love this top on you, inspired me to think about making one.

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  9. You really did a great job, this looks very stylish and pretty.
    I'm glad to see this top being made up. I tried to order it when it was an option for the free top but I forgot to specify the pattern on my order and they sent me the other one.
    You did a terrific job making this look very flattering.

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  10. This pattern arrived in my mailbox today and I am quite intrigued. Your version looks great!

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