Like so many of us sewists, the Breaking the Pattern book by Named Clothing blew me out of the water. It has redefined what I expect to see in a high-quality sewing book.

And, even though, I sometimes find Named Clothing a little to ‘edgy’ for me, there was just so much that I wanted to sew in this book. 

Talk about messing up the sewing queue!

First up: Saraste hybrid

So, amongst the at least 4 projects that I just wanted to sew right NOW, the one which actually ended up being the first make for myself is this one.

It’s a hybrid of the Saraste top and the Saraste shirt. With a tiny bit of the Saraste shirt dress thrown in for good measure.

No-one can accuse me here of not embracing the book’s theme of breaking the pattern!

It is essentially the Saraste top, but the top is designed to be sleeveless and with only a mandarin collar. I added the shirt collar, in particular, the version with a little decorative ruffle trim, which comes from the Saraste shirt dress pattern.

The main modification, however, is that I wanted sleeves. So I have added the sleeves of the Saraste shirt. In order to do so, I retraced the armsyce of the Saraste top using the armsyce of the Saraste shirt. It was an entirely unscientific process and I didn’t really give this part of the project the attention it properly deserved.  But, I figured that with all the ruffles and flounce on the Saraste top, I didn’t need to be too precise. My rationale is that I could always gather the sleeves to fit and call it a design feature. 

I’m pretty happy with the outcome of this slapdash pattern hacking. The end result of my Saraste top/shirt hack is that the armsyce is a tiny bit too high still. I would slightly lower it for comfort in a future version. But it’s definitely comfy enough to wear.

Atelier Brunette Joy

As a long time Atelier Brunette fan girl, it’s unsurprising that I’m using some of their latest release fabric. This is the Posie Blue viscose dobby fabric. Which is a pretty much a floral palette of all the colours I love to wear. I bought mine from Meter Meter, who always seem to have the Atelier Brunette new releases in stock nice and quickly!

When it arrived, I felt that the print had a bit more of a vintage-y vibe than I expected. It reminded me of a ’50s housewife dress. So I wanted to do something a little more involved and detailed, to really do it justice.

In the end, I feel that some of the details are a little lost in the the print. Perhaps the design details of the Saraste top and shirt would really shine the most in a solid.

Saraste top – ins and outs

So, the size charts for the Saraste top suggested I should sew a size 5. However, I had just sewed a size 5 for a different pattern in the book for my sister. Since she is a couple of sizes smaller than me, I just felt irrationally nervous that the size 5 would be too small. So I randomly sized up to a size 6.

I then ended up taking 1.5 inches out of each side seam and it is still very roomy.

Of course, I should have just followed the recommendations

My litany of errors…

There are some moments where I catch a glimpse of myself in this Saraste top and think it’s fabulous.

There are other moments when I wonder if I resemble a Court jester.

Ruffles and high necks, rights?

I think that my efforts at pattern breaking may have messed with the balance of the Saraste top somewhat. While I like the addition of the sleeves, I worry that the collar is actually a bit too large and looks a tad out of balance with the ruffles. I understand now why Named chose to pair the Saraste top with the simple mandarin collar only.

My other main error is that, whilst I did plenty of flipping between the pages for the Saraste top, the Saraste shirt and the Saraste shirt dress in order to identify what pattern pieces to use, I forgot to do this for the button requirements.

So, I ended up with four less buttons than I needed – each sleeve cuff takes two buttons. And I totally forgot to account for these cuff buttons when purchasing buttons.

As it was pre-vacation, my choices were ‘make do or don’t finish it for a month’.

I made did.

I used one button only for each cuff and then had 6 in total for the front of the shirt.

It’s definitely not enough.

But, hey, at least I managed to get it finished. Nothing bugs me more than leaving a project unfinished while I’m away.

(And since I took these photos, I’ve added 3 new buttons into the front, fixing the gaping you see here!)

The fight for pretty insides

I also started this project off with lofty intentions of beautiful French seams. Because this fabric deserves it. And because my serger has been a bit off lately and is sewing at weird tensions, making it very unreliable to use.

I managed about half my seams as French seams. Then I got to the point of attaching the ruffle and it hurt my head too much to try to figure out if it could be sewn as a French seam. So I serged that one. At which point, I figured, the ugly serging was in there anyway, may as well go with what’s fastest.

Seriously, I wish I could say this was an isolated occurrence. But the truth is, I rather often start with fancy seam-finishing intentions and end up with a half-serged garment by the end.

Am I alone in this diminishing resolve for pretty insides as a project nears fruition?

OK, let’s leave the errors aside now.

BTW, the fact that I love listing all the things I mess up when I sew a garment is entirely intended to be potentially helpful to fellow sewists. It in no way reflects the fact that I don’t like the garment. But, you know, we do tend to learn more from mistakes than successes…

Saraste love

For my first project out of Breaking the Pattern, I am extremely happy.

Not that you can tell from this cranky-faced photo.

There are a couple of unique features that I really like about the Saraste top and shirt. The way that the collar stand is designed so that there is a significant overlap where the button and button hole goes is very practical. although you can’t really see it when there is a collar attached.

And I looooove these cuffs. I have actually never seen a shirt cuff like this and it is fantastic. The cuff is longer then the sleeve and the ‘extended’ part of the cuff looks really chic when it wraps around. I know that’s a really crappy description. 

And I know I didn’t take a photo of it. So this is useless, I understand. Sorry, I’ll do better next time!

But, just take my word, the little details in this pattern are very well designed. That signature modern style that makes Named well-loved in the sewing community is definitely there.

So, excuse me now, while I go and decide whether I should be swooning romantically or dancing like a jester in my Saraste top…

Or is it a Saraste shirt?

Oh and, finally, a little P.S! If you like to get your blog hits through Bloglovin’, feel free to follow me over there: you can find me here. And you can find me on Instagram here.