Dolman Sleeve Top

Recently, I did the impossible: I sewed something in a single day. One. Single. Day.

I am a very slow sewer and it usually takes at least two weeks, if not several, to finish anything.
But the Dolman Sleeve Top by Cation Designs is a fun, quick pattern. Thanks Cindy! I wasn't sure how the silhoutte would look on me, but I figured with a free pattern, and free fabric I had nothing to lose. And I really like it!

Yes, the fabric was free too. My mom works a community theatre, and she sent me a whole box of remnants - it was like Christmas had come early! It was all left over from shows, or was donated in pieces too small to turn into costumes. But remnants are kind of my jam. I love the challenge of squeezing something useful out of leftovers. Also, I've clearly been watching way too much Project Runway and feel like everything needs an extra twist pulled from the velvet button bag that is my brain.

I juuusst barely eeked this out of 7/8 of a yard, but it meant I had to shorten the sleeves. I like how the elbow-length came out though. I cut a size Small for the arms and neckline, and then widened out at the hips using my Sewaholic Renfrew as a guide. I also made the arm and sleeve bands a little narrower and cut the underarm/dolman sleeve area a little higher.

Lest you get the wrong idea and think that one day I just woke up a sewing wizard, let me let you in one a little secret: I glued down the neck band. I was having some trouble because it was so narrow, and I didn't have enough fabric to cut a wider one. Plus, the brown thread I was using didn't match all that well, so the topstitching looked funny. So I sewed right sides together, flipped the band over, and glued it down using iron-on adhesive tape. Not my finest moment, but you can't tell from the outside.

Not too shabby, especially considering my whole goal was to practice more with knits and try a new silhouette. I'm putting this one in the win column.

P.S. Check out my new blog design! I couldn't have done it without helpful tutorials from Portia of Miss P on creating an archive page, and Sew Many Ways on how to make a header.