Sewing McCall's 7094 Top

I'll start with the positives. I like the pleated detail below the yolk, the fabric is light and bright, and ... I think the list ends there. At least until several reworks to make the top wearable.

My biggest complaint with this pattern is the sizing. It's waaaay too big. I realize it's supposed to be a loose fitting top, but I could have fit two of me in it when I first tried it on. I should have made a muslin, but I wasn't really attached to this fabric and figured this can be the muslin if it didn't work out. Plus, I was overly optimistic that the fit wouldn't matter as much on this design. I removed ~1" from the length of the torso on the pattern before cutting to adjust for my height and decided I could take it in a bit more later if needed. That "bit" turned out to be ~3" on each side and I would have done more if it didn't start distorting the sleeve opening and the overall silhouette. Maybe with a crape-like fabric the volume wouldn't be as noticeable because of the drape. However, my fabric had a little bit of body to it and when I first put it on, the top looked like a parachute. I didn't even take pictures, but you can imagine based on how loose-fitting the top still looks after taking out all that fabric.



The other problem was that while I like the curved hem on the pattern picture, the proportion was way off. I already shortened the torso before even cutting into the fabric, but decided to leave the bottom as designed in case I wanted to wear the shirt tucked in. The front was a little long, but the back completely covered my bottom and looked more like a dress than a shirt. No matter how I tried to wear it, it just didn't look right so I finally shortened it by 2-3" in the front and 5-6" at the center back and drew my own curve to the sides because I wanted to keep the side length as is. After all these modifications the top was starting to finally look a bit more like the picture and something I could wear out in public without looking like I was wearing an over-sized nightgown.

In terms of sewing, the collar and yolk came out just like the line drawing on the pattern, but there were several steps that called for hand-sewing. I wanted to follow the instructions the first time I made it, but I'm pretty sure changing the order a bit next time could eliminate some of the hand-sewing. All in all, I still think M7094, Inverted Notch Collar Top, has some interesting details, but the pattern needed a lot of modifications to make it wearable for me. Now that I worked through most of the issues, I'll probably try making it again, this time in a drapier fabric and see if I like the results better.  

For the final picture I wanted to share this shot with the cloud reflection in the sunglasses. Totally an accident and it's not a great shot of me or the shirt, but I thought it was a neat effect :)