Another Selfish Sew

I have been promising myself a selfish sew forever, and this Halloween finally provided me with the things I needed to eke one out; a pattern I wanted to try (the Shirtzie by Stitch Upon A Time), fabric that had a "deadline" (since I obviously wasn't going to make a Halloween shirt for Christmas) and actual, honest-to-goodness time to sew over the Columbus Day holiday. Egads!

I stashed this particular beauty last year after a sale at Kammie Lou Lou's. With my limited sewing time I don't do muslins, so this was the perfect combination of "pretty enough I want to wear it" and "Not SO pretty that I can't cut into it for an untried pattern." Plus, if my first try wasn't that flattering, I'd only be wearing it 1-2 months a year anyway.

SUAT mostly promotes the t-shirt front option on this pattern, but there's a cross-front option that I think is absolutely gorgeous. And bust-enhancing, which is exciting because 2 children later my tummy isn't as flat as I might hope. The construction wasn't overly complicated, although I still wish SUAT created their cutting guides with different colors for the different sizes, and actually numbered the steps rather than letting you guess which sections to skip over based on the headers.

The shirt came out alright, and it was definitely bust-enhancing. A little TOO bust-enhancing, as it turned out. As fate would have it, I (who have spent a lifetime thinking of myself as flat-chested) wear a D-cup and have a 4.5" difference between my bust and my underbust: the instructions said "do a full bust adjustment for differences of a DD or larger (4" difference)" and so I, thinking "D cup, but barely" skipped the adjustment based on my cup size. Apparently, I should not have. The resulting cross front fit over my girls, but just barely.  

I'm also tall (5'7") and carry my height in my upper body, so I normally have to adjust my bra straps to be as long as possible - that too may have had an effect. At any rate, the shirt still turned out nice, but I definitely have to wear a cami under it if I want to take it to the office. I also don't think it's flattering as it could be, with the waistband as close under my bust it is, and the skirt poofing out so generously

But hey! It was a learning curve; I do think I plan to make this again. Next time I will use the full bust adjustment, lengthen the band a little bit (or use a fabric with less contrast), and probably take some of the volume out of the skirt. That's one of the perks of sewing, being able to figure out what works for you and implement it.

And in the meantime, kiddo #2 and I get fresh, new handmade outfits for Halloween. Not a bad deal!