Lace & Peter Pan

Well there is never any Punch without Judy in my house.  So after the Lace Dress for daughter #1, here is the requested Lace Top for daughter #2.  We both totted off to Fabric Warehouse and she selected the underlining and the lace, to create her vision.

This is my second project for the Burda Style May Sew Along (quietly pleased that I managed to get two projects completed).  I used the same pattern as I did for the Lace Dress - the featured sheath dress in the 09/2012 magazine.

My daughters are different sizes, so for the this top I had to trace off the pattern again - so no shortcuts for the second project!

The number one request was for a Peter Pan collar, for which I followed Gertie's tutorial to draft a collar specifically for this pattern.  It didn't look anything like Gertie's draft, but it sits perfectly.

This was nice and easy with great results.

I inserted a lap zip in the back - not that you can really tell, because the lace hides this quite well.

I really loved sewing this pattern because there were features of the dress that I hadn't seen before.  First was the side darts which run from the breast to the high hip - hopefully you can see this in the picture below?  This dart provided bust and waist shape all in one - easy and effective.

The second was the shoulder seam, which has a dart in the top of the sleeve, but the dart isn't sewn prior to inserting the sleeve.

The side seams of the sleeve are sewn together then the sleeve is inserted and finally the shoulder seam and dart are sewn in a single line.  I've never inserted such an easy sleeve.

I really enjoyed sewing this pattern and I'm now thinking about making one for myself!

Daughter #2 is in love with her top and hasn't really taken it off since I finished it last Thursday :-)