As you can imagine, having a pattern review in a magazine such as SewNow it is an exhilarating experience. Also because in print you are quite limited I was not able to give more details of my experience.

I was really chuffed when Sam the editor of Sew Now Magazine asked me to review a pattern review for the magazine. It was such as lovely experience, going to their studio getting treated to a hair and makeup session by Nina Rochford (www.ninarochfordmakeup.com Instagram @ninarochford) and being photographed by lovely Renata Stonyte (www.renstonphotography.com Instagram @rentson). They made me feel like a little celebrity!

The pattern was on my to do list since it came out as a free pattern with issue 17 of Love Sewing. But you can get  The Jersey Top and Cross-Over Back Blouse from the SimpleSew Patterns website and if you get it before 30 September 2017 you can get a discount of 25% using the code SEWNOWTOPS.

The fabric I used came from Ditto Fabrics and is a lovely Italian linen with cocktail glasses on pink background currently discounted, so if you hurry up you might get it at a good price.

As my fabric was quite precious and I wanted to make sure my top for the magazine is perfect. I made a wearable muslin first in a fabric sitting in my stash to be used as lining or to make toiles. Some sort of synthetic blend. Because the fabric allows it, I played around with the print for added interest. It did mean cutting the back pieces on one layer though.  I  cut a size 10 and used the suggested seam allowance. For this version I also added some multi-coloured sparkly buttons. I found that the sleeve is a bit too tight on my arm. So I decided to keep to size 10 but on the shoulder and underarm seam to use a seam of 1 cm to give myself a bit more room.  On the proper top for the magazine I did a few things different or added a few steps more than  the instructions, which are minimal but the diagrams are self explanatory.

I cut my facing pieces in interfacing and then fused them on a piece of fabric and cut them afterwards.   Once I had all my pattern pieces cut, before starting construction, I stay-stitched the necklines and the back centre seam within the seam allowance to avoid them stretching out of shape. Which by the way happened to my muslin, because I failed to do this.

To make sure I use the correct seam allowance on both sides, I’ve marked it on the facings before sewing them up. Once facing was sewn up, I overlocked the edges that I knew would be exposed to the world on the inside.  Of course I added my little label inside. I tend not to bother finishing the edges that are hidden my the facings as most of the times they get clipped and graded down to allow for the turn of cloth. Knowing that on the first version I made a mistake. I marked marked the corners on the facings so I get a more accurate corner. And gone over the corner twice. I decided to under-stitch the facing as well, which, if I remember correctly it is suggested in the instructions as well. However, this was not sufficient to keep the facings from flapping out and annoying me to death. So I hand-stitched them in place to keep them flat. Hand sewing is not  my favourite activity when sewing, but I came to appreciate it.

It was really fun for me to write the review for the magazine. But I felt 300 words are not enough to express my views about this one and decided a more in depth review is in order. Hope you enjoyed my blog post and found out a bit more than from the printed review. Below are a few pictures I was given from the photo shoot at the Sew Now studio. My make-up artist was Nina Nina Rochford (www.ninarochfordmakeup.com Instagram @ninarochford) and being photographed by lovely Renata Stonyte (www.renstonphotography.com Instagram @rentson). Needless to say that I love this top. I’ve been wearing it a lot and it came with me on holiday. The Italian linen is so soft on the skin and keep one cool in the hot weather  and it is so sun. I’ve been getting a lot of compliments on my cocktail glasses fabric. Though most of my close friends are still surprised I picked a pink fabric. I am totally not a pink kind of girl, but sometimes I make exceptions.

I made the jersey top as well, while deciding which view to make for the magazine review. I ended up modifying the pattern for that one, but more in a future blog post, when I might show you how you can do the same.

If you want to make a top like mine you can still buy the pattern from the SimpleSew website with 25% off using the code : SEWNOWTOPS . And please share with me your versions of this pattern. I’d love to see them.