A Purple Bronte Top

As soon as I saw the Bronte top from Jennifer Lauren, I knew I had to make it because I had utterly fallen in love with it and I still am. As I'm in strong need of jersey tops to go with all my skirts, the Bronte top is the perfect choice. Because of it's shrug-like shoulder detail it is much more than a basic top. And I like it :)

Excuse these back wrinkles, but the skirt was rotating around and so was the shirt!

Fabric: I used some purple light-weight jersey I bought in Walthamstow market. It was only £1.50/meter. Nonetheless it feels super soft and nice to the skin. I always have a hard time choosing plain fabrics, but this fabric has a pattern knitted into it and I like it so much.

Size: For the bust I cut a size 8 and for the waist/hip a size 10.

Worn together with my Burda flower skirt.

Alterations: I had made a muslin from an old jersey first and that showed me two fitting issues: I needed a swayback adjustment of almost 2" and a square shoulder adjustment. For the swayback adjustment I just took out 2" at the center back tapering to nothing towards the side seam. The shoulder adjustment was a bit more difficult and I ended up tracing the armholes (starting above the notches) and shoulders at a size 10. I then blended from size 10 to size 8 from the shoulders to the neckline. I hope this makes sense. I cut the neckband in size 10.

Construction: Thanks to Jennifers instructions and her sew-along a breeze :) I sewed the whole top on my overlocker and topstitched the hem with a twin needle. It took me only 6 hours from cutting to finishing Bronte. Which is fast for me :)

Embellishments: I used some buttons from my stash. These buttons actually come from Ukraine, where I found them in an old shed. So I gave them a good soak and scrub and now they are like new. But I like the idea that they came from somebody else clothes and have their own history. I might call them vintage buttons, haha.

Buttons from Ukraine.

Have I worn it yet? Once to take the photos on a super hot day. I suppose the fabric is completely made from polyester, because it wasn't breathable at all. But I don't mind in autumn to be a bit more warm! So I like it a lot! I have made already a second one which you will see soon :)

On another note, I'm going to move to Cambridge (UK) in August. So the next time will be stressy and it might become more quit on this blog. I'm even not sure if I can take my sewing machine with me for the first couple of month as I might be living in a flat-share, buh.

Are any of you readers from Cambridge? Can you give me any tips about places to live, fabric shops, sewing communities and want to meet up? I would be happy to hear from you :)