Summer Top - Back Interest #1

  I am retired and have more than enough clothes for my lifestyle.  But I still want a sewing project that require me to try a new technique, or sew a unique fabric or style. After scrolling through my inspiration photos, I pulled out two pictures of sleeveless tops that have "back interest" and challenged me to sew them. The first one requires sewing faced openings in a difficult fabric. The second, in an upcoming post, involves pattern drafting.

  The first was a top from the Knip Mode pattern magazine July 2025 issue, top 17.  I bought the PDF pattern from the website.

Knip Mode 0725-17

What interested me were the large elliptical cutouts on the back that form a flower when the narrow parts are attached together in the center.  I was also intrigued by the challenge of facing and turning these shapes in a mid-weight tweed fabric without the edges shredding. The fabric I chose was a red cotton tweed purchased from Fabric.com (no longer in existence) in 2007. I lined it in the front and faced the cutouts in the back with red sheermist batiste  fabric purchased at Hobby Lobby (online store). It is a poly/cotton blend, light weight, but finely woven, not sheer. I use it for underlining, lining and actual garments. The same fabric is also available on Etsy as Imperial Batiste Fabric by Spechler Vogel in many more colors.

After fitting a muslin of the pattern, I cut it out of the fashion fabric. I fused medium weight weft  interfacing on the back to stabilize the fabric and traced the cutout design on the interfaced back. 

Back with traced design

 I hand basted the red Sheermist to the face side of the back pieces and sewed carefully on the lines for the cut out shapes.

 I removed basting stitches, trimmed the shapes near the stitching line with pinking shears, and carefully turned the smallest parts.  Garment back and front were then assembled as one would a typical lined sleeveless top. The spokes of the flower with attached under a decorative button.

My Project Takeaways:

• I was able to turn the narrowest parts 3/8" wide without pulling out fibers from the fabric. Yeah! 
•  When I tried to attach the parts of the flower in the center under a small button, the back buckled unattractively, so I used a larger decorative button found in my stash.
• If you don't plan to wear a bra with a garment, remember to fit the muslin without the bra. Otherwise, the finished top will be too large in the bust.
• The cutouts look great on the top when it is on a dress form.  But they are quite large and move around a lot when one is wearing the top and walking, sitting etc. When worn without undergarments, side backfat rolls can be seen in the openings.  This was shown in one of the model photos on the website, but I didn't note it at the time. 

Knip Mode 0725-17 Front

Knip Mode 0725-17 back

I like the top. But to make it more wearable for me, I think I will attach a skin-colored mesh panel to the inside back to stabilize the opening and diffuse the view.

Wearing Birdhouses for the Baptism

 Another excuse to sew a new dress. My granddaughter's baptism.  After all the fitting for the wedding guest dress talked about it the last post, I wanted an easy sew of something unfitted and comfortable for July weather in Northeastern Pennsylvania.  

I chose Burda dress 1/21 108. 

The fabric was a printed Silk de Chine from FashionFabricsClub.com . Birdhouses!

I was so lazy I didn't even put buttonholes in the front placket. I just sewed the buttons on top of the two plackets to hold the front closed. The dress was easy to pull on over my head. 

 My granddaughter lives in Baton Rouge, LA. Her baptism was held in Eagles Mere, PA. A very long way from her home.  Why?  Because the officiant for the ceremony was her maternal grandmother, a retired Reverend of the Episcopal church, who serves at the church in the resort town of Eagles Mere during the summer. How cool was that? To have your grandmother baptize you.

My son and DIL do not post photos of their daughter on the internet so no family photos. I will leave you with some pictures of me posing in the dress in front of the historic (1700's) Penn's Tavern beside the Susquehanna River in Sunbury, PA, where we had lunch during our 7-hour drive home. Yes, there was an active train track in front of the inn.  The parking was on the far side of the track.

Out for a drive.