Finished - Vogue 8597 Cowl Neck Stretch Top

Here is my finished top Vogue 8597. This fabric and I fought our way through the overlocker just about every step of the way.

 I begun by trying to sew it using the cutter blade, but the cut fabric bunched up over the seam marker, so I couldn't tell what seam width I was sewing. Then the fabric jumped at the start of one of the shoulder seams, and cut a small hole in the fabric. I had to make the seam allowance a bit wider on that shoulder, but you can't really notice it because the fabric is so busy. I ditched the seam cutter and changed over to just a regular 5/8 seam allowance. This time, the three thread seam was not enough to catch both seams as they moved about when I was sewing, so I switched to a four thread seam.

Once I sorted that out, the top sewed up quite well, and I think it is a fairly good result for my third go at sewing a stretch garment and only the second one sewn up completely on an overlocker.

This is a close up of the cowl collar. I agree with all the reviews of this pattern on Patternreview.com that mentioned the cowl does not sit very well. If I made this again, I would extend the cowl facing by at least 2 inches so that you cannot see the wrong side of your fabric. To re-cap, this is the pattern cover, and I made view B, which is the red top. I also have this fabric in the blue colour-way, and I am considering making up top C in this pattern.

And here is the back of the collar. It is high at the back, so it can keep all the winter breezes away from you neck.

I don't have a cover stitch machine, so I just sewed the hems using stabilising tape and a double needle in my regular sewing machine. That worked for the lower hem, but the sleeve hems are a bit puckered. I remember reading somewhere that you should loosen the tension, and when I did that, it sewed up quite nicely on the hem. When I showed the finished top to my sewing club ladies recently, one of them asked if I had done the hems on a cover stitch machine, and then we got to talking about whether we had one and if not, would be consider buying one. I guess I would if I did a lot of stretch sewing, but at the moment I am not.

I am pleased with this project and would certainly consider sewing this pattern again, but I will be putting it away in the closet for next winter as it is starting to warm up here. Next up on the sewing list is a messenger style fabric bag, which I hope to start on today.