Caramiya Tate Crop Top and Dress

This was a very well-timed project. I was already planning to make this pattern and was in the middle of testing when all hell broke loose. Another repercussion of my health scare this last month is that I haven’t been able to wear a bra or anything restrictive around my chest. I’m unsure when or if I’ll feel comfortable in my old everyday bras and sports bras. My old sports bras are based on Megan Nielsen’s Cottesloe swimsuit pattern. Oddly, I never wrote a blog post about it. They were getting tight before my health issues, and now they’re unwearable.

When I saw the online video showing how the Tate crop top is sewn, I immediately knew I wanted to try the pattern. The construction is new to what I’ve seen before. I love the bit about finishing the bottom seam before the second side seam and then doing this mind-meld method to complete the side seam so you only have a small hole to finish by hand. It’s a lovely method and a quick sew on your serger.

Analyzing Style and Fit

The Tate pattern style is a close-fitting garment made with stretch knit fabric. The fabric must have a 4-way stretch, stretching equally horizontally and vertically. All three versions have a square neck for both the front and back.

The Tate pattern consists of a crop top, tank top, and dress, each designed for different body types and preferences. For the crop top, there are two options: one for cup sizes A/B and another for cup sizes C/D. Similarly, the tank top and dress patterns come in straight and curvy blocks.

The crop top does not have elastic or a stabilizer for the bottom hem, but it is easily added, as you’ll find out below.

Sizing and Versions

Size Charts

The pattern comes in two bust options: A/B cup and C/D cup. However, no instructions exist to determine what bust cup size you fall under. There are two conflicting methods for determining bra cup size. Ready-to-wear (RTW) bras use under-bust and full-bust measurements for cup sizing, while garment sewing often relies on high-bust and full-bust circumferences. I also wish the pattern had the final garment measurements. It annoys me when they don’t. My measurements—42-inch high-bust, 40-inch full-bust, and 36-inch under-bust—underscore this issue: according to RTW standards, I’m a D-cup, yet the garment sewing method leaves me uncertain due to my larger high-bust.

	00	0-2	4-6	8-10	2-14	16-18	20-22	24-26	28-30	32-34
Bust	30-31	32-33	34-35	36-37	38-40	41-43	44-46	48-50	52-54	56-58
Waist	23-24	25-26	27-28	29-30.5	32-34	36-38	40-42	44-46	48-50	52-54
Hip	33-34	35-36	37-38	39-40.5	42-44	46-48	50-52	54-56	58-60	62-64

	00	0-2	4-6	8-10	12-14	16-18	20-22	24-26	28-30	32-34
Bust	31-32	33-34	35-36	37-38.5	40-42	44-46	48-50	52-54	56-58	60-62
Waist	23-24	25-26	27-28	29-30.5	32-34	36-38	40-42	44-46	48-50	52-54
Hip	35-36	37-38	39-40.5	42-44	46-48	50-52	54-56	58-60	62-64	66-68

My Body Measurements

As stated above, my high bust measures 42 inches, my full bust measures 40 inches, my waist measures 34 inches, and my hips measure 46 inches with the measuring band. I ended up starting with size 16-18 from the A/B cup pattern (41-43 inch bust, 36-38 inch waist, 46-48 inch hip), but I’m going to explore my final pattern against the C/D cup pattern to see if that would have been a better place to start. Should I have started with a size 12-14 from the C/D cup pattern (40-42 inch bust, 32-34 inch waist, 46-48 inch hip)?