Butterick 3344

Me Made May has really gotten me thinking about the way that I sew, and the fact that while I have a ton of clothes, I don't have a ton of clothes that work together.  As a result, I've been trying to incorporate some basics into the things that I am sewing.  I think this top is a good example of success there!

Basic red top, but not completely boring.  It is made with OOP Butterick 3344, which is a really great basic tee  pattern if you can get your hands on it.  It has five different views and three sleeve variations, which makes for quite the tee wardrobe.  I also think the directions were mostly well written, particularly for a Big 4 knit pattern.  They even included instructions for staying the shoulder seam - color me impressed!  The fabric is an ITY from FFC, and I am so glad I got a ton of it when it was on sale!  It is so soft and drapes beautifully, but sewed up quite nicely.

I chose this view because I really like the shape, the v neck and the ruching at the bust.  Gathers are always a nice way to hide your FBA, and that is what I did here (much like the way that I did the FBA on the burda style top with similar bust gathers).  I did the ruching my own way though.  Butterick would have you gather that section with traditional gathering stitches and then stabilize with stay tape, but I wanted it to retain it's elasticity, so I gathered each side individually with clear elastic just inside the seamline and then sewed CF together while stretching the elastic so that it would still stretch when I was finished.  It seems to have worked well!

The other changes I made was to lengthen the top by 2 inches, which may have been a bit much, but I'm going to wear it around a bit and see if I want to shorten it.  Better too long than too short!!  I also shortened the sleeve by a couple of inches, as I prefer the look of a cap sleeve.  I am pretty happy with how it turned out, although it is a smidge longer than the traditional cap.

I am not entirely happy with the ripples down CF.  Do you think my FBA was too big, or is there something else going on there?  Opinions?