Simplicity 2962

I finished this top just in time for what passes for wintry weather here in Hilo, but it was warm enough yesterday afternoon to wear for several hours. Nice and comfy, but sheesh, it's big. I made my size and yikes, I'm swimming in it. The yoke is too wide (I have broadish, square shoulders, fit there is not usually a problem), and the armscye is gapier than it should be. I thought I liked that the front yoke is lower than in similar other patterns, but when I wear it I wantto hike it up an inch or so at the shoulders.


I ended up making View B (shorter length) with a contrast yoke, and skipped the pockets.

I chose this pattern because I like the pleats (rather than gathers) in the front. I'm not so thrilled with the square yoke in the back, and would prefer a circle yoke that goes all the way around. But this is intended to be around-the-house wear using up some stash fabric, so the yoke issue isn't a big deal. Original plan was to add the cute pockets in the yoke fabric, but I ended up deciding on a shorter length, so pocket placement would be awkward.

Haven't decided yet whether to stick with this length or add a contrast band of a third fabric at the hem to make it long enough to be worn as a short dress. A dress would fit my need for steamy-day-around-the-house wear more than a top does, but I don't have a fabric in my stash that looks right with this. Theoretically I could purchase another half yard or so of the yoke fabric, but the whole idea was to use up my last piece of that. So it may stay a top forever. Whether it will stay in the closet, or see regular wear, is as yet unknown.

Construction was pretty easy, BTW, although getting the yoke and yoke facing all lined up just right was a bit fussy. The back of my bodice ended up about an inch wider than it should have been to fit the yoke width (I suspect that's my error: I did not intently heed the instruction re trimming S/A at the armscye), so I took a small pleat in the center back as well, which you can see here:

Remembered to add a fake tag to the inside yoke, too, just for fun. It's not exactly centered, big deal.

I skipped the back ties. They don't really seem necessary, since most of the extra is in the front. I made ties, but didn't insert them when I sewed up the side seams because I wanted to check placement first. And then I decided not to bother, as most of the extra size in this is in the front. I might take in the sides a couple of inches, see if that helps it feel a little less gargantuan. Yeah, I wanted loose and cool, but there's loose and then there's gigundo.

I've got a similar pattern to this (Butterick 5179), with a higher yoke, in dress length. I'm gonna try that before attempting this again. If it fits/looks better and I want another top, I'll just make a short version of that one.
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UPDATE: I've worn this top several times now, and am liking it more and more. It's just so comfy. I think I will make it again, going down a size and see how that fits. I also want to try out those cute pockets and make a shortish (not mini, I'm too old for that, but a couple of inches above the knee) dress length for hot day wear. That may be one project, or two.

I've got other things higher on the fashion sewing list, though, so don't know when I'll get back to this. Probably around the time the weather gets warm and sticky again and I feel desperate for light, loose clothing.