Sunday, April 6, 2014

Sorbetto Top with Sleeves




$8.00. 
That's how much this top cost me to make. 
"How?" you ask.
Here's the breakdown: 1 yard of $5.99 fabric from Ikea, one $1.00 zipper, and one >$1 package of  1/2" bias tape. 
AND...one FREE pattern. 

The FREE pattern is what really inspired me to do this post. I have bought patterns from the fabric store and sewn many different pieces, but this was the first time I downloaded a full garment pattern and made the piece. 

Guess what?  It was totally easy! Very do-able for the novice sewer. I promise.

This pattern is called "Sorbetto" and is from Collette Patterns. I added the sleeves, which are also a free download.


Sleeve Download (scroll down after your there to the 2 sleeve links)


I also added the zipper. You can make this shirt without a zipper, but you'll need 1.5 yards of fabric. I only had 1 yard of the fabric I wanted to use, so I added the zipper. It will make more sense as you see the layout.

 How to make your own Sorbetto top:

1. Download and print out the patterns. Regular printer paper is fine.
 
2.  Cut out the pieces from each page. I am old school and use scissors. I'm sure a paper cutter could speed up the process. 

3. Lay out the pattern papers on the fabric. See the little black diamonds? They are numbered guides that make this super simple. 

4. Using masking tape, tape all the pattern pieces together.  Masking tape works best for this because you can see through it and it doesn't gum up your scissors when you are cutting.
 
5. Cut out the pattern, and lay it out on the fabric. This is where I went against the original directions in order to only use 1 yard of fabric. Normally, both main pieces would be laid out on the fold.  You can see the sleeve pattern in the upper left.
  
6. Follow the pattern instructions. to assemble the shirt.  This is a clearly written pattern, so any instructions about its assembly I could write here would be redundant.

 7. If you are adding the sleeves, the only kind of tricky part is the gather. I did a small gather at the top of the sleeves, and then I pinned several gathers for the bottom of the sleeves. You could also do a gathering stitch for a more all-over gathered look.



I loved the finished product.  I will definitely be making this pattern again!