Candy Stripes and Ruffles - Vintage Simplicity 6357 (reissued as New Simplicity 1365)

This is a make from a few months ago, however I haven't had a good chance to take photos.  Today I decided done is better than perfect so despite my inability to stay in the frame on auto timer (resulting in a lot of pictures containing only half of my legs or cutting off arms and/or head) as well as the light disappearing halfway through, I managed to get a few pictures to share.

From Vintage Pattern Wiki.

I picked up Simplicity 6357 from a thrift shop in a size 14- at least one size too small for me, but the envelope was too cute to pass up.  A few months later it was re-released under the number 1365 so I highly suggest that if you like the look you should pick up a copy.  The interior finish is very nice with every seam enclosed and is very straightforward to make.

I decided on view 3- a tie halter top with peplum.  I know peplums are well past now (not that I really follow mainstream trends all that much), however I feel like this evokes a grown up version of a cute little girl's swimsuit rather than a passe trend.  The fabric is a cotton with thin multi coloured stripes which I used to accentuate the different parts- horizontal at the bust and front of the peplum, and vertical for the body pieces.  I've got another 3m or so of this stuff and I have no idea what I should do with it.  It's not really a pattern or colour I can imagine wearing en masse.

I think this picture shows the cuteness the best.

I mostly followed the instructions, though I did make a few changes.  To size up I used narrower seam allowances for the vertical body seams.  This worked just fine, however after wearing I can see that I could have used another half size larger in the upper back area.  I added interfacing under the buttons to help strengthen the area- I was surprised at the lack of any sort of placket for the buttons.  I really like that the top is fully lined, however the pattern instructions call for hand stitching the lining to the strap/upper back piece and I don't have the patience for that.  I just top stitched it down- looks quite alright.

The inside is so pretty!

That top-stitching yo.

The second most significant difference however is the addition of foam bra cups.  I cut them down to fit and inserted in between the lining and fashion fabric- no tacking- they're loose, but there's very little room for them to move and when wearing the top they shift to sit correctly if they weren't before.

The biggest change however was lengthening the ruffle.  The pattern is already drafted to have quite a large gap in the back of the ruffle and like I said above, I enlarged the circumference of the body making this gap even larger.  I'm not too keen on having a weird rectangle of flesh showing over the top of my shorts, perfectly framing any inadvertent crack appearances (though if you have a lower back tattoo you want to show off, this may be a perfect for you).

To lengthen the ruffle I traced the original piece then cut it into pieces and spread until the inside circumference matched the bottom bodice measurement.  If you do this, it is important to try and keep as much of a spiral shape as possible as that is what gives you the ruffle behavior.  This piece is also cut on the fold so I also had to be careful to make sure the end of the piece didn't cross the centre line.  You can see how much I had to add- about another 1/4 of the overall length.  The ruffle piece as is barely reached past the side seams.

Last, though not least, I used bias binding to hem the ruffle.  I forget exactly what the instructions said, but I vaguely remember it simply being a single turn over- not really the best wearing finish.  It was fun ironing the binding over and watching it curl into itself around the curve.

Conclusion:

Super cute top, perfect for lounging around the pool or hanging out at the beach.