Sinclair Patterns "Sienna"

I sew to be frugal. I know a lot of people say you can't do that anymore. Fabric is expensive, printing patterns at home gets expensive, etc. But there are ways around this. First up, be flexible but knowledgeable and discriminating. Don't just buy fabric because "it's cheap". I try to make sure it's a material I like the feel of, it's large enough for what I'm interested in making (ie--a bottomweight fabric needs at least 2m to make pants and what else would I do with 1m of a heavy fabric?). Is the print or colour suitable for me and my wardrobe? I buy a lot of thrifted fabric.  I sometimes use sheets (like the previous post). I re-purpose maxi dresses. And I started buying from destash groups on Facebook. A lot of that fabric is really good quality. Some people sell it for what they paid (about $30/m Cdn for cotton-lycra, DBP, FT, etc). And some people just want to move it along, or they have smaller amounts. This fabric is a DBP (double brushed polyester). It's very soft and drapey. 

Patterns--I buy some from the thrift store. This can be hit or miss because it can be hard to tell if the pages have been cut already. But I figure, for $1-$2, I can usually figure it out. The other goldmine is independent designers, like Stitch Upon a Time, Itch to Stitch, Patterns for Pirates, Greenstyle Creations and Sinclair Patterns. There are MANY more though! Many of these companies have free patterns on their website, or in the files of their Facebook group. This is a great way to try a company. I don't get too hung up on if it's "no trim pages" or not--I have a paper trimmer, and I can usually muddle through most directions now, but for a beginner, this is a great way to build a pattern library. The great thing about joining their Facebook groups or email newsletters is you get sneak peeks, and they usually have a sale when they release a new pattern!! Sometimes they retire patterns and have a sale on them too!! I never pay full price for a pattern, I always wait for a sale.

I don't know how I heard of Sinclair Patterns, probably in another Facebook sewing group. Suddenly there were all these versions of this top popping up. The pattern was free, for a short time. AND, it came in a petite version! It's the "Sienna" top.  I don't think I realized it was a dolman top, which I normally avoid. Patterns for Pirates has a really popular dolman sleeve top, but being busty, I do not want that extra fabric! This one is much slimmer.

I printed two sizes because I wasn't sure exactly what size. I had some confusion because there are two different types of dots on the patterns, and they didn't line up. I asked for help in their group but the answer didn't really help me. My printer didn't print the very bottom of each page, and apparently there's a separate video tutorial for printing and putting this pattern together. Which I found out too late. What I did like was the little grid, you can see it at the very top of the photo. It shows how to line up the pages and which page this is. So I don't have to refer back to the computer. One other nit picky point. Some of the labeling wasn't' close to the corresponding part (the "Cut here for short sleeves"). This could have been because the layers I printed were on the larger size and the text was set up next to the smallest size. I also had an issue with the wording/layout about making the ties. There's a couple options given, but it's just not laid out clearly. 

I think I did a size 16, maybe graded to a 14 in the hips.

Not sure why I had blue jeans on, but I would never wear it with blue jeans. You can see how low it sags in the front. If you look at the pattern on their website, it should be much snugger across the belly.

I had wanted to wear it with my grey pants, or my leggings since I was having trouble finding tops to wear with leggings. The drawstrings can be let out, making the length longer.

But I didn't like it like this. It's rather shapeless now. Maybe if I let the strings out all the way, but my legs look like toothpicks coming from the flat end of a marshmallow.

So I let my mom try it on. What a difference! It looks awesome on her, very different than what she normally wears but still comfortable. 

Of course the dog had to get in there!

So obviously, I had made it too big for me, despite being in the right size for my measurements. I wanted to give the top another go, since it looked great once fitted right. I had this wild tie-die cotton knit, very lightweight. I thought it would be good because the rouching would smoosh up the print.

I carefully laid it out so I didn't have circles on my chest LOL! I narrowed the neckline. I did a 14 from neck to armpits, then 16 downwards. And  then I tapered the sides in even more. It still could use more but the side seams were getting pulled out of straightness. 

 I love how the pattern lined up on the front. You can see I still have the sagging in the gathered section.

Don't love the horizontal lay out quite so much, but it's not that bad I suppose. Especially with my hair down. The sagging is not as bad on the back. I think because it sits at the top of my butt, so it gets held up.

I didn't want to take the front all apart, so I added two vertical darts coming up from the bottom, to take out some width. That really helped, though I don't have a picture. It's not really a shirt you can wear too often to work LOL. Another idea is to do like a sway back adjustment, and cut it so the sides angle up to the centre fold. Then as it droops, it should lay level. Should. 

Will I make this again? I don't know. I might give it one more go, since technically I have only one top in this pattern LOL. It takes quite a bit for the length and I did have a hard time getting it to fit on the fabric as the pattern showed. There's no back shaping, no real side shaping. Yes, it's a quick sew (more or less, you do have to make the drawstrings and channels). So, we'll just see.