Easter Weekend Birthday Top!

Last weekend I started a new top for my mom based on one that I had just finished for myself (and haven't posted yet).  It was cream coloured with little red swirls on it.  Unfortunately I had a hell of a time trying to get it to the right size!  I was reusing the pattern from my own shirt and planned to just cut the fabric slightly larger for each piece so that the top would be the right size for my mom.  I must have forgotten to widen the side panels because after I sewed it all together I was convinced that the shirt was just too narrow below the bust.  

I came up with a clever design where I opened the side seams and added the same fabric with some elastics sewn in to look like there was ruching under the arms.  I figured this would give the shirt extra room to grow if necessary without looking baggy otherwise.  Well it turned out that when my mom tried it on last week it was definitely too wide (oh boo).  It was almost as if I never needed those extra side panels at all!  So, there I was, ripping out the side panels that I had just sewn in and then restored the shirt to the original size.  My mom tried it on and no wait....now it was just an inch too tight under the bust line! I gave up.  I couldn't look at that top anymore and opted to put it aside, perhaps finish another day for myself.  

I decided instead to start fresh with a new shirt but this time was much more careful cutting out the fabric!  I chose to do a gold coloured top with black binding which I thought would look less casual than the original fabric.  After I was happy with the construction of the shirt I repeated all the steps to create the black lining.  

Next I hand-stitched a black floral pattern onto the front using sequins and beads left over from my latest shirt.  Then I basted together the necklines from the main fabric and the lining in preparation for sewing on the black trim binding to hide the raw edges.

hand-stitching sequins and tube beads to create this detailing 

 I ended the zipper a few inches from the neckline to make it easier for my mom to reach from behind, then added a snap button to secure the corners together.

Invisible zipper with snap button

Here is the final product!  I originally had a black ruffle trim along the very bottom seam but my mom thought that it made the top look "too fancy".  She explained that with the trim she would only be able to wear it out in the evening but without the trim she could wear it more casually, like to the grocery store.  Good grief.  I hope I didn't spend 2.5 hours hand-stitching itty bitty beads so that she could run out for some milk and eggs!  Anyway at least I agreed that the ruffle trim didn't look right after she tried it on so it was an easy fix to remove it and put in the black binding.