Bias Top

I made a skirt but then realised there wasn't anything in my wardrobe that went with a four colour iridescent (ie 8 colours really) bias cut silk skirt of interesting shape. I realised quite quickly that making a on-grain top in the same silk wasn't going to work simply by trying this on with it. The colours don't match even though the fabric is the same as the top piece of the skirt! I thought something kind of v-necky - ie wide looking shoulders would work because it should balance the sticky-out bits of the skirt. I looked through quite a few patterns but didn't really find a perfect one. However, I thought would give this bias top a whirl.

Vogue 9771 - Bias cut top with a strange floppy top, which is called a "cowl". Sounds scary doesn't it? I made the sleeveless top which has only 5 pieces. Should have been a breeze but actually took several evenings trying to get it to fit!

I didn't like the fit (see below under alterations) and I also did not like that the facings were left hanging. I - erm - "catch stitched" them in? I don't know for sure that this is the name of the stitch I used, but it sounds right because you just "catch" a couple of threads of the fabric so that the stitches are invisible from the outside. For the hem at the bottom the pattern said something like "stitch, easing in fullness as required". Made no sense to me so I did the invisible catchy stitchy again because when I tried machine stitching it - it just didn't work.

Going by the sizings, I should be a 14 top and then a 12 at the waist and below. With this pattern I cut a 14 knowing I would have to take in the waist and hips a bit. When it came to fitting I ended leaving the shoulders the same, taking in the bust by 3 7/8", waist by 5" and hips by 6". That was how much it took before the husband's opinion changed from "s'ok spoze. Bit funny.." to "Oh! It's quite nice axtually." !!

The reason for all the strife might be that dupioni silk doesn't sag much when cut on the bias. Having said that. I had no trouble getting the bias cut skirt in the same fabric to fit.

Perhaps some sort of knit top with a v-shaped neck might work better, but this pattern did make economical use of the on-bias rectangles left over from cutting out skirt pieces, and it looks OK, so all in all not a complete waste of time!

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