Japanese Lawn Bess Top

Today I'm taking part in the Imagine Gnats January Pattern Tour. I've sewn up another version of the Bess top, I was keen to add another garment to my summer wardrobe.

A while ago I found this blue floral japanese lawn fabric at Spotlight, and I grabbed a couple of metres. I had no real plans for it, but sometimes when you find something random at Spotlight that you like, if you don't buy it, you'll never see it again. It is beautifully soft and feels lovely against my skin but I had a really hard time sewing with it!

My first Bess top was made with a cotton voile, and I thought a lawn would be fairly similar. Wrong. The voile had a lovely drape that worked much better with this pattern. I made a size 10 first time around and felt the it was a little bit big, so I sized down to an 8. Off the rack I am usually an Australian size 10-12, which is a US size 6-8.

Ignore the crazy hair in this pic (haha you looked again didn't you?)

You know those projects where nothing goes right? I mucked up one of the sleeves a little bit so I had to unpick both the seam and the top stitching, then try again, then I pierced a hole in the fabric, I had tension trouble, then my thread started nesting, arrrrgggghhh.

But it worked out in the end and I'm pretty happy with it. It will be a nice light top to wear with jeans during the warmer weather. I could have finished it better on the interior, but by the end I just wanted it DONE after all the hiccups and seam ripping. Maybe when I'm in the mood I'll go back and tidy it up.

The pattern suggests using strips of jersey as the facing for the neckline, sleeves and hem. I didn't particularly like the finish it gave my first version - it seemed a bit scrappy, especially after a few washes. I used bias binding this time and I prefer it.

It doesn't show in the pictures due to the floral pattern, but the pleat in the shoulders are much more obvious with this fabric than the voile, which I like because it adds a nice feature and makes the top more interesting.

Pattern details: two pieces, with sleeves created from back piece. I used 1.5m of fabric and had a fair bit left over. Trickest bit is creating the sleeves. Quick sew, it can easily be whipped up in a couple of hours. Get the Bess Top pattern here.

Rachael is having 20% off all her patterns during the January pattern tour with the code JANUARYTOUR, so definitely pop over and check them out.

All these amazing bloggers are joining in the tour so you can see lots of different versions of the Imagine Gnats patterns here during January:

Inder Loves Folk Art / mon petit lyons / Sew Delicious
la inglesita / Miss Matatabi / Rae Gun Ramblings
Welcome to the Mouse House / Casa Crafty
Make it Handmade / Made with Moxie / Buzzmills
girl like the sea / just me jay / Play Crafts
Sew Well Maide / Sew Charleston / Mingo and Grace
Caila Made / Sewbon / do Guincho / call ajaire
Alison Glass / a.Amelia Handmade / Bored & Crafty
you & mie / Stitched Together / things for boys
fake it while you make it / Sanae Ishida
Behind the Hedgerow / I Seam Stressed / Charming Doodle
The Crafty Kitty / Siestas & Sewing / Figgy's