I've had this piece of rayon jersey in my stash for a little while, but I was a bit afraid of it. It was so soft and slinky that I just knew it'd ripple like crazy when I sewed it. But I decided to go for it and I thought
Vogue 8649 would be a good pattern to try it out on, since the fabric was so drapey.
Turns out that I wasn't too far off. I was pleasantly surprised at how well this sewed. I did use the teflon foot and low presser foot pressure that I used while sewing slinky. To stitch it, I tried my usual straight stretch stitch, but this fabric is so much more stretchy than most knits, even the stretch stitch popped out. I ended up sewing it with a triple stitch, which is sturdier and stretches well. My seams aren't quite as flat as I'd like, but they aren't going anywhere.
I really like the design of this pattern. The shaping and fullness for the bust is achieved with gathers both at the shoulder and at the underbust as well as the lower back. Fit-wise, this is a cup sized pattern, so I didn't do an FBA, just cut the D cup which should have been perfect by measurement. I'm not sure if it is the drape of the fabric or if Vogue's drafters were just a little aggressive in terms of ease in the cup sizes, but I have a little drooping below the bust. I'm not sure if I should use the C cup pattern piece next time or not. This fabric is crazy drapey.
You can see here how it bags out under the girls. Not my most flattering look... I also elected to used picot edged elastic for the neckline finish. Vogue calls for bias tape, which I think is superior to facings any day, but I need some stretch in my wrap tops since I'm still nursing. The elastic was perfect, and I think the edge is pretty.
In the final analysis, I really like the way this top feels, but since the fit isn't great and the fabric is super thin (read - must wear Spanx), I think I'm going to make some pants and call this a PJ top. It will be perfect and I've actually been needing some new PJs, so that works out well.
