Saturday morning I found myself with no obligations. Well, there’s always house stuff that needs to be done, but I blew that off. I sewed for myself!
Several weeks ago I purchased the Laurel pattern. Seeing all the great versions y’all are making for the contest gave me the itch to make one for myself. Having never made a Colette pattern, I decided to jump in with the free Sorbetto pattern, just to give me a feel on how to modify it. With only a front and back piece, it was a quick pattern to work on.
I started out with the size 14 with a 3” FBA (full bust adjustment). The fit through the bust was fine, but the FBA added too much width throughout the body. You can see that the fabric under my bust is poking out where vertical darts should be. I didn’t want vertical darts, so on my next version I folded out that excess and added 2” in length. It was just about perfect!
I sewed up one in good fabric, thinking that I was going to wear it that afternoon. Wrong! It was slightly too tight. Arghh!!! I’m not sure if it was my fabric choice or seam allowance (I used french seams), but it wasn’t comfortable.
Back to the drawing board.
My pattern front had already been sliced & diced enough, so I printed out a new copy and started over (love that about PDF patterns). This time I made a 3.5” FBA. Yes, that’s a big ole honkin' bust dart, but it works. I took my chances and made the new version out of good fabric. It fit!
I wasn’t too crazy about the pre-packaged binding I used on my first final version, so I made my own for this one. Much better! I think I need to invest on one of those little bias tape makers.
This quick, easy pattern will be made many times in the near future. It’s a great staple piece to add to your wardrobe. I wore it to work on Monday with a cardigan and I can see wearing it with shorts on the weekend. I’m already planning my next one! I’m a little late to the party on this one, but you can count me in on a Colette pattern lover ;-) Maybe I'll get around to making up a Laurel soon, but I'm having too much fun right now with Sorbetto!!
