A Ruffle Sleeve Top from a free Pattern

I am always interested to see what everyone else is making and this week I spotted this lovely top from a free pattern.   I bought the duvet cover from a charity shop because I loved the fabric, when I saw this pattern it was the perfect.    I have had to make a few adjustments as I checked the measurements and this indicated the size I needed, I measured myself to be double sure but it came out really big so there has been some tweaking and I will explain that below.  Here is the top and I think the fabric works well.

Now in my image here there is a tie at the bottom and that is not on the original pattern ( I always have to tweak things you see!)  The original hangs away from the body and I just thought it needed drawing in a little and this was my way to do it.

With regards to the pattern I found it on the sara project blog and I love her version that is also in a white print, go and have a look at her blog if you are not familiar with it.  The free pattern is from Peppermint magazine website so you can also have a look around on there.   It is twenty eight pages of printing!  So that is why I am not always a fan of printing off patterns.  I thought I would give it a go as it is good to share these things with the community when you find them and I know a lot of people need a pattern to work from.  

Sticking it all together is a job in itself but if you think of it as a jigsaw it can be a gentle activity;) 

It is clear I will give it that, everything was there I know once before I printed one and there were bits missing (but not from this source). 

I used the recycled duvet cover and I love using these as you get so much fabric from one, it is just a case of keeping your eyes open for one with a good print that can be worn.  I have loads of fabric left and the other side is striped.

I wonder what I can make  with the stripy side?

As I was saying it came out big size wise so it is a lovely pattern but be prepared to take it in a little. I also moved the darts up on mine and made them a little bigger, we are all different and I think dart placement is specific to each person so that is not the fault of the pattern.

When it was finished I wanted it to sit closer to the body so I cut a long strip of fabric about 4cm wide to make a tie for the bottom.  I also cut a little semi circle where the tie would sit and hemmed it.

I did that over to one side as that is where  I want it to tie.  I then folded it in half and began stitching it to the bottom allowing some to hang over each side.   Then I folded it towards the inside and stitched it down to hide the raw edges.

I find doing it this way gives a nice finish to the bottom and it removes the need for overlocking etc.

So I hope this was helpful if you fancy giving it a go but want to add something extra, I would love to see what other versions everyone can come up with.  I will leave you with one final shot of one of my dogs phot bombing earlier!