Poppy Zip Front Top for Sofie's 21st.

My baby turned 21 back in September and I din't make a dress for her.  I would have truly but she decided she didn't need the stress and bought herself an outfit.  Me, I needed the stress obviously as I tried my first Stylearc and planned to refashion a leather skirt to go with it. The top Poppy was a  hit but the skirt is still in disgrace.

I bought the fabric in Shenzhen in China.  A floral and a matching navy solid in silk.  As it turned out it wasn't silk (am I surprised?) but pretty non the less.  I used some of the baby soft leather from my disgraced skirt as accents.  Luckily I had an old skirt in the wardrobe that matched the teal in the top pretty closely which saved me some late minute sewing for a bottom.

This was my first Stylearc pattern and I had a bit of trouble following the instructions.  Very sparse and not clear at all with the pleats.  In fact parts of the instructions were wrong and a non matching notch added to the confusion.  Its a cute top though so perhaps I will forgive them.  I purchased the top based on my bust measurement but ended up taking in the  princess seams from bust  point to the shoulder about 8cms.  I did do a muslin first without any alterations and found that I didn't have to do my usual short waist adjustment nor the forward shoulder one.  The neckline also is not quite so high or fitted as shown on the illustration.

Overall I am pretty happy with the top.  It could have been sewed a bit better but as usual I was in a hurry!  New Year resolution - don't wait till the last moment to actually get started!

The birthday girl with her non mother made outfit.  And a selfie of the three of us -