A Heavily Modified Koos (V2971) Top

V2971, a Koos Couture by Koos van den Akker pattern, was one of the patterns I was trying to give away earlier this month.  I was a bit surprised not to have any takers for it, so decided I should have a go at it myself and see if it was a 'worth it' pattern or not.  On close examination of the line drawings I thought the top would need modification for my body shape (looks to suit broader shoulders and a larger bust) and that the skirt looked an interesting shape (ignoring all the trim, which is not my cup of tea) but time consuming to make.

I opted for the top. Here's the final result:

and this is how it looks with ties undone (+ an odd filter applied in Picasa for seam highlights):

You'll probably see me wearing this top soon in Me-Made-May '12, which is why I've not bothered presenting you with a self-portrait...

FYI this is how it looked on the pattern envelope - unprepossessing, to be honest!

 but on the Vogue patterns website there's this close-up:

and ooh - I see I missed something! So my top is not finished - there's a 2cm piece of stitching still required!


Anyway, as is, this is my favourite part:

and right nearby, this is my least favourite - I don't particularly like gathers on the sleeve cap of a stretch top, but as the owner of the obviously flawed modifications I take full responsibility:

I made so many changes that it seems only fair to show the original and modified pattern pieces.  My modified version is on the white tissue paper; the brown tissue is the original V2971 pattern pieces.

• changes to the back neckline, shoulders and arm scye, including new darts below the shoulders:

• changes to the front shoulders, arm scye and bodice width - but removing bodice width also affected the length of the ties. Mine aren't quite long enough to do up at the back:

• changes to the shape of the sleeve cap (and sleeve length, not shown):

If you're thinking of making this top, it's probably also worth mentioning that the sizing seems large. Normally I'd make a size 12 in tops, and this is a stretch fabric pattern (ie the sizing should already take stretch fabric into account - but perhaps it doesn't?) but a size 10 was a good fit for me, even with that large amount of width taken out of the front pattern piece.

Overall I like the fit of this heavily modified pattern, and I like that this top cost me peanuts - I think the pattern was $4, but the fabric (Lyocell I think) was left over from a project a long time ago (therefore free), as was the white thread. I don't know how useful it's going to be, but I guess it's a bit of variety for my wardrobe!


I'll try to get around to writing a proper review over at Pattern Review as there were a couple of steps in the pattern that I ignored and did my own way. If you're thinking of making this top please feel free to email me - I made notes on the pattern instructions as I went and I'll be happy to pass those on.

Me-Made-May '12 + My Wardrobe tab

I'll be taking part in Me-Made-May this year - although I know the weather will probably be chilly and so I'll have fewer homemade efforts available to wear than in summer. Somehow I always sew too many warm weather clothes and not enough of the cosy stuff!  Since work is insanely busy with my manager on 5 weeks leave, my parents are both still recovering from illness / operations, and my kids are running around yelling a lot these days, I'm not going to promise more than 1 item per day. I will be aiming for 10 items per week though, including me made items worn by any family members that prove amenable to coercion (probably only the youngest family member).

 

I, Gabrielle from 'Up Sew Late' do hereby sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May '12, and will endeavour to wear 1 me-made item each day for the duration of May 2012.  If through lack of sleep or brain fog I am unable to wear a me-made item on any given day, I will catch up by wearing two me-made items on the following day.  I will also attempt to coerce family members into wearing me-made items in May 2012, withe the aim of reaching 10 me-made item wears per week.

I don't intend on blogging about what I'm wearing every day but I will try to do a few roundup posts during May. I'll probably be posting my proof photos on the MMM group on Flickr...but there's also going to be a Facebook place to hang out and chat in a Me-Made way :-)

Last year these were the photos that summarised my self-stitched wardrobe:

t-shirts

casual skirts

dresses

more dresses

long sleeve tops

skirts, a pair of pants and a jacket

work / play tops

work tops

But what awful photos! 

This year to help myself review what's in my wardrobe I decided to put together a visual summary of my me-mades, which will sit in a new tab (up in the top left hand side) called "My Wardrobe". I'm late to the tab party, aren't I!  Here's the work in progress if you're interested. I will be adding links from the photos to the original posts, and I'll probably rearrange the photos - maybe by season, or colour, or even by wearability - what do you reckon?