Ahhh, the Wiksten Tova. Am I the last person in the sewing/crafting blogosphere to sew one of these? I’m pretty sure I am.
Truth is that I’ve been hoarding this pattern for quite a while now. Right after I had Ezra, my bust measurement put me in an XL. An XL! I am a small person, people! And only 5’6″! I am not an XL. But hey, whatevs. The boobs…they do what they want these days.
A few weeks later, I measured again. Size large. Like, a large large. Almost an XL still. So again, I waited.
Then, the week before Sewing Summit, I pulled out the old measuring tape again. I was on the small end of a large! Hip, hip, hooray! So naturally, I whipped up a MEDIUM muslin to test the fit of the chest/shoulders. I figured that even if it was a little tight, I could wear it once this final 20 pounds disappears slowly and painfully retreats from my sad little body.
Perfecto. Just a tiny tad of tightness around the bust, but nothing major. I decided to go with it.
At first, I wanted to use my Liberty of London I’ve been patiently stashing away. But, I decided to wise up and use a less expensive cut for my first attempt at this pattern. I’ve sewn quite a few garments in my life, but I have to admit…that inset collar/yoke thingie was making me a bit nervous.
So, I had this piece of lovely black and white, geometric-print fabric from Yellow Bird…but only 1.5 yards. I figured I could maybe get a sleeveless version of the top out of it.
BUT HOLY SMOKES. When I started laying out my pattern pieces, I realized that with a little ingenuity, I could get the sleeves in there. And the tunic length!
So off I went. It sewed up sew beautifully, and the inset corners came out perfectly my first try. And even though I put the collar on upside-down (doh), I think it looks just great.
The only mods I made to this pattern were to double layer the yoke (yes, I got that out of the 1.5 yards of fabric, too! And it was only 44″/45″!) and interface the placket and collar with some trusty Pellon SF-101. Pellon: Loves.
Here are some more photos (obvs). They are not very good. The hubby snapped them after I’d had a glass of wine and was running out the door to Sewing Summit. I promise I will try harder.
