Years ago I had a pink paisley gypsy top that I wore until it fell apart.  I’ve always wanted another, but I haven’t been able to find one.  Now I’m sewing again this seemed like a great idea for a project.

The Butterick B4684 pattern view A, with the elastic under the bust that is in view D, looked like a good place to start.  The fabric that I decided to use for the wearable toile is a green paisley pattern from my stash.

I found it a nice relaxing project and loved adding the lace to the neck line using my overlocker.  It made it really simple to get a neat finish on the inside.  The only problems I had were trying to do a curved hem at the bottom edges and getting the placement of the under bust elastic right.  I had to unpick the original channel that I’d sewn in.  It took a long time to find the stitches to unpick among the overlock stitch I’d used on the edge of the fabric making up the channel, without damaging the top.  I found that the best way to find the correct placement for the new channel, was to put the top on inside out and draw a line with tailor’s chalk where I wanted the elastic to fall.  I added a slight upward curve in the centre front to ensure I didn’t have too much bagging in the centre.  It worked a treat.

I was really pleased with the finished item and it was definitely wearable.  I think I’m well on my way to another TNT pattern.

Jx