I’m slowly creating a wardrobe, since I currently just wear workout clothes (or worse, PJs) all day while working from home. Starting in June, I’ll be working in a legit office and that means I need clothes. I’ve hobbled along “decent” clothes for as long as I remember. It’s time for a change…clothes that fit and look good too. It is definitely a new sensation. I’ve made knit shirts now for several months. In February, I took a one-on-one class with Sunni from, A Fashionable Stitch. Unfortunately, she is no longer holding classes, but at least I was able to get that boost and learn how to make knit shirts based on my own measurements. I’m slowly moving into more technical patterns with the confidence of knowing how to make adjustments to the patterns. My first real top is the Ruby Top from Made by Rae. It’s a simple enough pattern and there’s a ton of great resources online to show you how to sew the top. I added a lining to my top (see here) and the capped sleeve from the Washi Dress pattern (see here).
I did have to make some major adjustments to the yokes, but let’s start with determining the right size. My upper bust measures 35″ and my bust measures 38″. That places me at the upper edge of a size Medium and the lower edge of size Large. From experience, I know my back width and shoulders tend to be larger than normal (15+ years of competitive swimming will do that), so I went with a size L. Although this was just a shirt, I’m a size L based on my waist and hips as well. For my first attempt, I just made a muslin so I could determine overall fit. Everything fit wonderfully, except for the neckline (the top of the front and back yokes had major gaping). For the top of the front yoke, I needed to take in a 1/2″ at the center front fold (total of 1″), but needed to leave the bottom of the CF as is. In other words, the bottom of the yoke fit perfectly around my upper bust and across my back and across my shoulders too, but the neckline was too big.
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