The Ava Top

I got a little fancy pants, y’all!

It was the least I could do after being invited to be involved in the wonderful launch of the Perfect Pattern Parcel.

If you haven’t already heard, the Perfect Pattern Parcel is this crazy great pattern sale brought to life by the wonderful minds of Jill at Made with Moxie and Rachael at Imagine Gnats.

Here is how it works: you buy a package of patterns supporting indie designers, at a price of your choosing (yep, you pick the price), and that money is divided between the designers AND a charity that helps teachers.  I know, it’s a lot of amazing-ness to take in.  At the end of the day you get a slew of great patterns, indie designers get support/love, and teachers get cash to build better learning environments.

Hello! That is worth getting fancy for.  The sale is for a limited time and it ends tomorrow. So, get on it.

The patterns included in this sweet little package are:

Accordion Bag by Sew Sweetness
Summer Concert Tee by Dixie DIY
Ava by Victory Patterns
The Skater Dress by Kitschycoo
Dandelion Dress & Top by Disparate Disciplines

I jumped at the chance to make the Ava Top.  It looked like a challenge and I’ve been eager to challenge myself lately.  I stitched it up with a lovely swiss dot-like sheer fabric I had on hand and Art Gallery Sweet Nostalgia fabric on the bottom portion.

The Ava Top is really fun, it felt very satisfying to successfully make something fancy & outside of the norm for my extremely casual wardrobe.  It had some tricky bits as well…a side zipper and fitted bodice. I was looking for a top to wear out for drinks with my girlfriends and this top fits the bill.

That sweetheart neckline up there.  Oh yeah, that intimidated the heck out of me.  But it worked! The pattern is clear and straightforward and it made those intimidating things easy to accomplish.

That said, I don’t fit into this top very well.  I’ll need to make some adjustments next time around.  What is that you said?  I should probably have made a muslin to tweak for fit before cutting into the good stuff?  Well, yes, I should have.  Thank you for that lecture.

The main issue is that my (ahem) bust doesn’t fill out this top and it gapes a bit at the armholes as a result.  It’s also got a bit of fun flounce to it but a bit too much for a girl with hips like mine.  I think it would be perfect in a knit…kind of like this Wonder Woman mash-up by Kitschy Coo or this one from Crafterhours!  It’s not that I won’t wear it, I just wish it fit perfectly, you know?

Want to know more?  You will find tons of details over here at Jill’s blog and enter the humonguous giveaway here (with over $250 in prizes!).

Be sure to check out all of the incredible things made by all the bloggers participating in the Perfect Pattern Parcel launch:

One Little Minute
SeamstressErin Designs
One Girl Circus
casa crafty
the quirky peach
Kadiddlehopper
Sew Caroline
Groovybabyandmama
Fishsticks Designs
the Brodrick blog
verypurpleperson
sew a straight line
Adventures in Dressmaking
true bias
Idle Fancy
La Pantigana
Crafterhours
Boy, Oh Boy, Oh Boy Crafts
Max California
YoSaMi
la inglesita
Diary of a Chainstitcher
four square walls
Lauren Dahl
Sewbon
mingo & grace
Dandelion Drift
VeryShannon
Sanae Ishida
buzzmills
Sew Jereli
Figgy’s
Froo & Boo
Disaster in a Dress
Things for Boys
mama says sew
sew Amy sew
Sew Busy Lizzy
Made With Moxie
imagine gnats

Disclosure: I was given this parcel of patterns and agreed to make one of my choice and discuss it here. All of my opinions about this fantastic support of indie pattern designers are my own.