Love Notions Rhapsody, take 2

Wow do I love this pattern!


As you can see, it is the Rhapsody top by Love Notions.  Below you can see versions made up.

Every version I've seen looks great!  My first try with this was made in a striped linen.  I've worn that thing several times already!  I am so smitten with it, I decided to make it again in a chiffon.  I love the vibrant colors of a chiffon but feel very inept when I sew it.  I am getting better and more confident but slip, slide, and shimmy is what that chiffon does!

I am wearing a cami underneath as this fabric is very sheer and will show the world what you've got.

I made only one design change and that was making the inverted pleat a gather that matches the front.  

Here is a closer look.

I even made my own bias tape to finish off the neckline.  That was probably the trickiest part!

I made a narrow hem at the bottom bodice and the sleeves.  

I also made french seams throughout, even at the armscyes!  

Pretty nice and tidy, if I do say so myself!

I love, love, love this top!  And, I love the fabric.  It came from Fabric Mart.  I am going to put this pattern away for a while, but when I come across the right fabric, it is out on top of the pile again!

Thanks for reading!

Sue

Love Notions Rhapsody Top

I love indy patterns companies, how about you?  The variety of styles, styling, fit, I am just so amazed when I use an Indy.  I saw Deepika from SPR review this recently and decided to check out this pattern.



I had never heard of Love Notions.  I really love the styling of this top--so many options for making this pattern in at least 8 sleeve options.  Who does that?  Indy patterns do, that's who!

Would you look at the design of this top!

I really love the overall fit.  That back pleat is very cute.

Let me tell you about the fabric I used.

Since this is a new to me pattern company, and since I am trying to whittle-down my closet to things I really like or have no use for, I took an old RTW linen skirt that I loved the fabric but hated the fit and made it into this top.  

The uneven stripe in the shades of blue was super cute as a skirt.  Too bad that it fit so poorly, or shall I say that this was a great excuse to make this into something I might really like?

The pattern instructions have you compare your high-bust to your full bust to determine if you need an FBA.  In the big 4, I always need an FBA.  With Love Notions patterns, you measure and then determine if you need to use the regular front bodice or the bodice pattern pieces with the built-in FBA.  Surprisingly, I did not need the FBA.  What???

Is that stripe fun or what?  Typically I make a swayback adjustment but I didn't need to with this pattern.  Sorry about the wrinkles.  It's linen, wrinkles are inevitable, right?

Since I had such limited yardage, this top is slightly shorter in the front and back.  I just didn't have quite enough to make this as long as the pattern suggests.  You will also note that my sleeves don't match stripe-wise.  Again, I didn't have enough fabric to make two duplicate sleeves.  I only had enough to make bias sleeves and they wouldn't be mirror images of one another.  It's okay.  I think it adds visual interest. 

Let's talk about the neckline finish for a moment.  I typically hate using bias tape for the neckline but in this instance, it turned out great--a finish I am really proud of!

For this, I simply didn't have enough fabric to make my own bias tape, which I am a huge fan of!  I used a remnant of the purchased binding from another project.  Sometimes I wonder if I keep too many scraps of things.  Do you ever wonder that for yourself?  In this case, it was just enough to finish the neckband and create ties!   

I really love making narrow hemlines.  I used 1/4" fusible seam tape and ironed it on.  I gave it a double turn and stitched.  I am so happy with the finish.  It duplicates RTW. 

I used the same technique on the lower hem.  Damn, I did I great job with this top!  Is that okay to say?  I hope so as I am super happy with how it turned out.  DH also loves it.

I think I see many more Love Notions patterns in my future!

Thanks for reading!

Sue :)