This top ended up a bit warmer than I had anticipated, but it will be welcome on a cooler summer day or evening. My BSF and I decided to try Katherine Tilton’s Butterick 6136 because we both like princess seam lines for flattery and fit. The decorative topstitch lines on the pattern are also a terrific idea for adding extra detail to a plain tunic.

We made quite a number of modifications to the pattern. The biggest was a change to the armscye and sleeve, since it was too generous for our taste. We used one of our TNT’s Vogue 8952 (view B) thereby producing a closer fit. We’re both getting more comfortable with changing patterns in this way to get exactly what we envision.

I took Katherine Tilton’s simple yet brilliant idea of decorative topstitching, but didn’t follow her exact pattern. A thin ribbon attached with a zigzag stitch created a bolder line, but the top still seemed plain. It sat on Roxie for several days without the side seams, since I knew there was something I wanted to do. Finally I took a scrap of the patterned knit and draped it down the front between the two topstitch lines. Big improvement, and easy to do!

Finshing the top included a wedge-shaped collar that used previously on this Marcy Tilton dress. This time I tucked the short end under the long to give a little lift. This is such an easy collar finish.

That leads me to a question. I’m taking more time sewing these days in order to concentrate on details like the collar, and this is leading to fewer posts. Would my readers like some photos of work in progress, exposing more mishaps, fixes and other details? Let me know if you just want to see the finished product or more process.