SO after having booked our holiday for Morocco, I decided I needed a bolero style top as a modest cover up for walking around, and found this glorious free pattern from Mood Sewciety!
Annoyingly, Covid-19 cancelled this trip for us, sooooo.... đ Anyway didn't get to wear it for this BUT cannot wait to wear it this spring/summer!
It's such a lovely pattern for beginners too as there are not many pattern pieces and would work perfectly with a cotton fabric which is the best beginner fabric to use.
HOWEVER, just to make it more complicated for myself, I had decided to create this in a GORGEOUS white and brown aztec (similar can be found here), and although it looks lovely, it was very tricky to sew together, as this pattern requires cutting on the bias, and what I hadn't realised (I'll link to a super helpful video I watched on YouTube here), was that viscose loses its shape very easily, which really explains why the symmetrical pieces hasn't matched up, as I had cut and hanged the pieces for a good few weeks before sewing đ¤ˇđźââď¸ (if you're a sewist, you know!)
Hopefully you can learn from me on that one đ
What I particularly like about this design were the elasticated sleeves as it gives the garment a lovely shape and volume. I made a little alteration on the sleeve length from a full to a 3/4 length just for it to be more suitable for summer weather.
I will be making this again in a cotton fabric (in multiple colours!), just to achieve more volume on the sleeves and see if the mishap with the shaping improves the bust coverage. With making it with the viscose, and the issue to matching up, I had to cut off excess fabric and therefore reduced the coverage on the chest area. I feel if I make this is cotton, there will be less distortion in the fabric and therefore the coverage will be better.
On the same topic of fabric choice, I do think a woven fabric would have been better as on the front tie, you would be able to see both sides of the fabric. The viscose I used was printed, therefore the back side of the fabric is white which is a little annoying to see!
If you do use a printed fabric, you can get around this by cutting an extra 2 front ties, and sandwiching them together, that way when you tie the bow, you don't need to be cautious of the white side showing.
I would really recommend this pattern, as I think it is such a versatile piece to add to your wardrobe and you could really create very different looks by using different fabrics.
As a beginner it can be very difficult to find a simple pattern that is wearable so this is a really good option, especially as it took only a couple of hours to make!
If you have made this too, I would love to see it! Join our lovely community here by entering your email address down below to receive monthly emails or by joining fellow sewists via the Member Area, where you can show the photos of your makes.
Until next time, Happy Sewing!
Lots of Love,
Shirin xo
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