Simplicity 1199

After I made a Vogue 8175 top from scraps leftover from making the Kwik Sew 1139 PJ pants, I still couldn't bear to throw the scraps away.  I pawed through my patterns to see if I could eke out a top for Iris out of the remainder.

I paired it with yet another thrifted organic cotton T.  This one advertised alcohol, which would be inappropriate for a teen.  Fortunately, the shirt was large and my daughter is XS, so I was able to cut around the advertising.

I like the longer tail in the back

and the princess seaming.

I fused tricot to the shoulders on both the F and B sides and also stitched them with a straight stitch for stability. I like to press and sew the seam allowances of the shoulder down flat. I find it less irritating to sensitive skin. I topstitched with a straight stitch at the shoulders and a slight (0.9 mm wide) zigzag elsewhere.

The topstitching is a bit uneven.

On Pattern Review, one reviewer dissed the pattern because it bunched up at the underarm.  I didn't read the instructions, but I suspect that they did not explicitly explain the importance of clipping curves.  I stitched the seam with a narrow zigzag and made two tiny clips at the underarm.

Another reviewer said it was impossible to sew the side seam with a serger due to the side slit.  I sewed to the slit opening and back-tacked.  Then I clipped the seam above the end of stitching and serged from the underarm to the bottom clip.  After serging around the slit opening and hem, I topstitched the whole thing down flat.  Just to show off, I mitered the corners, too.

It is possible to get flat and even results; there is nothing wrong with the pattern.

I sewed an XS-S, which is the size corresponding to Iris' measurements. It's a bit tight on my dress dummy and my body, but we are a size M. This is an oversized top and you can probably go down one size for a closer, but not tight, fit.

Note to self:
It fits.  It looks cute.  It provides the perfect amount of back coverage.   She refused to model it for the blog.  She wants the sleeves lengthened 2" next time.