Style Arc Billie Tops

I liked this unusual draped top pattern when it was first issued and I don't know why I didn't buy it, but I didn't, it went out of print and that was that.  However when Style Arc had a Black Friday sale of the pdf patterns in their Etsy store I had a browse and found Billie there so I snapped it up.  Finding anything on that site is a bit hit and miss and I much prefer to go through the main site, but if you know what you are looking for you can search for it on the Etsy store.  Here is the link to the Billie search page.

There is only one crazy shaped pattern piece (plus facing pieces which I did not use) so provided you keep the pattern piece nearby so you can figure out which bit is what, this is an incredibly quick and easy top to put together.

If you have faith miraculously it turns out exactly like the line drawing!

I made two versions, the first in a sequin fabric for the holidays and the second in a printed ITY jersey.  I think it is much more successful in the sequin fabric, partly because the weight of the sequins makes the drape hang better, but also I think this just works better in a solid otherwise the drape detail is lost in a busy print.  I have some solid cotton bamboo that I plan to try this in and I'm also curious how it would look in a drapy woven.  It definitely needs something slim on the bottom half to balance out the volume - basically exactly as Style Arc show it in their illustration.

There really isn't a lot to say about construction because there is so little of it - make a pleat and sew three seams!  As I mentioned I left off the facing pieces and just used self fabric to bind the neck and arm edges.

Sewing with sequins required a bit of extra work, but I didn't use the generally recommended method of unpicking sequins from my seam allowances.  Instead I just covered the seams and edges with some scraps of jersey, a method I have used before, so much quicker and works for me, but if you have very sensitive skin it might be better to go the couture road or underline the whole thing.  

You can see below why the print version doesn't work as well - the drape detail is lost and it just looks like an oversized t shirt.

The party version is much better!