Time for something unrelated to lingerie projects! This past week was a gloriously lazy one. My better half was out of town for several days and told me to take some time off. I’m not the sort of person who gets nervous when there’s nothing to do, so I spent a massive part of those five days schlepping around in my bathrobe and keeping my laptop closed. No dogs no laundry no groceries and a lot of Netflix queue.
One of my few hikes out of the house was straight to Joann’s, precisely for this pattern, which I spent the weekend casually stitching here and there. This is the famous Rachel Comey “Navigator Top” that became a beloved sewing pattern, Vogue 1247. After seeing Sallie and Carolyn traipsing around in this beauty of a blouse I knew I had to have one myself. Wouldn’t you know it, I was in Joann’s the one time of year they weren’t having some mad coupon sale; I can’t remember the last time I bought one of these if ever at full price. But I just couldn’t wait…
And I was determined to finally cut into this beautiful feather print silk charmeuse I stashed away two years ago with no plans for it other than “billow-y summer top”.
And friends, we have not had a single day that’s felt like winter. The crickets are already singing. Today was 88, and the wind was perfect, the sun was perfect… so with just 45 minutes of light in the day to spare I leapt in the car to find the nearest open space to to take some photos–a neighborhood church parking lot. Nothing too exciting but it had a big wash of warm sunlight. Now I had 30 minutes left, and once I got out the tripod realized I forgot my remote!
So I called my husband. Honey? I have a huge favor to ask… could you pretty please bring my remote to me?
I should mention that he was out on his motorcycle during the riding equivalent of the golden hour. He was too sweet to do it but now I only had 10 minutes left. Which gave me about 30 photos, most of which turned into a slurry like this:
(Ignore the unfolding cuffs. I like kind of loosey floppy blouses.)
Or this, which is what he often calls my “getting Detroit about it” face. (He was telling me I had an ugly truck in the background, making for “bad art”.)
You get the picture. It’s going to be one of my favorite blouses! I love those radiating lines. This blouse is so loose that fit is sort of in the eye of the beholder, but I made a few adjustments to raise the bustline and take out some volume in that area. Sewing-wise, it was fairly easy going. Am I allowed to say I love sewing French seams? This pattern uses them for every seam, and even if it didn’t suggest them I would’ve gone for this finish–I can’t imagine any other seaming in such a lightweight silk. The hardest part is that tricksy intersection of four seams right below the waist. Or maybe the hardest part was that rolled hem. Sewing this one was akin to sewing on a roller coaster– a curvy shirttail hem in a slippery fabric. I’m half tempted to unpick and start all over. I just cannot abide crappy hems.
Oh, and I accidentally understitched the sleeve facing to the right side rather than the underside. Hmmm, all that lazy schlepping must have taken its toll. No one will notice but me. ♥
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Ooooh so pretty!! I really love this blouse (oh and btw, my cuffs totally flop down, don’t care, think it looks kinda cool) But this fabric is just too perfect paired with the pattern. This is probably my favorite version I’ve seen yet! Beautifully, beautifully done Amy!
Aww thanks Sallie! And for the inspiration to try it. I love funky little blouses… need more Rachel Comey patterns!
Hi, Amy! You look fantastic in your new top! This is a great pattern.I have two versions of it: one in silk and another one in very thin cotton, and used the latter so much last summer. Your version is so delicate and lovely.
Pics are great too 🙂
Thanks, Merche! I might have to try a thin cotton, too. I could see me having a few of these for summer.
Man this looks good, I am pretty jealousssss of that fabric too! I’ve been wanting to make this top for a while and other things just always get in the way. Anyway, it looks so good with the red pants and your cute lipstick, definitely my new fav version of this top!
Thanks! This was one of those fabrics I waited too long to cut because it was so pretty. It’s definitely a fun pattern without a lot of fitting hassle so you’ll love making it!
Yep, it’s a winner! Gorgeous fabric and this really is a special pattern (I made one too back in the day, but would like to make another one now that I have mastered French seams). Super fun with those red jeans!
ps. DAMN YOU AND YOUR 88 DEGREES. It’s snowpocalypse outside right now.
Wow, I seemed to have missed your top, too! I feel like such a copycat but it’s a very fun blouse.
I know everyone’s jealous but this wacko weather bodes a total furnace of a summer for us Texans come April or May. This is about as close to spring as we get!
Great blouse, great print! I love slouchy tops, too. Especially in our summers it will serve you well.
After the month that you had, busy as I can only imagine with a sew-along, I’m glad that you took a week to decompress. Nothing is the best remedy for that. Nothing and Netflix.
The top is great. The seaming is ultra feminine and very flattering. Do you know how jealous I am that you have not had a day of winter? It’s going to be fourteen degrees tonight. FOURTEEN!
FOURTEEN! As a former midwesterner, I so don’t miss that. I’d totally be inside watching even more Netflix! Decompressing was awesome–I really needed it.
I LOVE this! It’s absolutely perfect! I bought this pattern after I saw Sallie’s version, but I’ve had a hard time deciding on a fabric (I bought a gorgeous silk charmeuse for it, but didn’t notice in the store that it was printed off-grain… boo…). This really makes me want to push this to the top of my to-do list!
88 degrees?!?! It’s sleeting outside here in NYC! Brrr!
Very, very pretty!
Great shirt Amy. Very pretty fabric and the hem looks fine in the pictures. I have made the skirt but been procrastinating about the shirt. I love the loose floppy look and seriously, what’s to fit? If its too low, wear a camisole, if its too long, wear tighter bottoms, right? If it falls off the shoulder, well, shows all the nice new bras we’ve been making with you. Time to sew.
Thanks, Rebecca! Now that I’ve worn it out and about, I think I’ll live with the hem. (It looks fine on the outside…. the inside is all wobbly.) But now you’ve got me thinking about making some fun camisole bras!
Beautiful blouse and love the fabric.
Fabulous outfit! I love the combination of this gorgeous top with the bright red pants. Your taste in fabric is impeccable, and it looks like it would be just sumptuous to wear.
I’m having trouble with a silk curved hem of my own at the moment…though I think I am going to leave it because the fabric ravels so much. Yours looks fine in the photos.
I love this top in this fabric. Actually I just love this top full stop…so much so that I have made three versions plus the skirt twice!
This top is beautiful! Love it with the red pants!
Beautiful work, Amy! I had somehow overlooked this pattern, but you make it look very tempting. And I love the print. I’m still a bit nervous about trying charmeuse..
Like Heather said, it was snowpocalypse in Toronto yesterday—we had snow piled halfway up the windows. But I’m not sure I could deal with Texas summers!
Thanks Sarah! Charmeuse is such a wiggly fabric, I know, but I so love wearing it. Sorry to hear you guys are trapped in the snow. Stay cozy!
Oh no a lovely top for which I don’t have the pattern. I’ve seen this sewn up elsewhere in my computer but have so far resisted its obvious charms and now you’re gorgeous version ….its just the last straw so now I am going to have to buy it. C’est la vie don’t you know.
I know, I got sucked in, too. It’s fun to make!
I love your top. I have this pattern but only in 12-16 and I am a 10 (like you I could’t wait to buy it and they only had the larger sizes!). The skirt was fine in size 12 but I’m worried the top will be huge as several reviewers seem to have made few sizes smaller than their measurements. Did you make a smaller size and do you think this pattern could be scaled down easily? Many thanks, Megan
Hi Megan, thank you! I fall in between a 10 and 12 in Vogue and often make a 10, which is what I cut for this pattern. I too noticed that others made a size or more down but I really wanted to keep the drapey loose look from the envelope and the elbow length of the sleeves. If you use a non-drapey fabric like cotton, as I noticed some others did, it will probably affect the fit. It seems like it’s easy to take in because there are seams at the center front, back and sides. Hope that helps!
I am a fan of this pattern. Yours has turned out wonderfully. Usually the print versions lose the pretty design lines, but your print is so light and sparse that you have the best of both worlds. Love it.
Amy, this is such a pretty top! I actually saw a pic of you wearing it on Pinterest first. Love it!
Hi Amy! I’m new to your blog and had to comment on this piece. It looks great! I sewed the same pattern awhile ago and wish I’d taken in the bust; how did you do it?
Hi there – I slashed and overlapped about 3/8″ (for a total of 3/4″ taken out) along the middle of the neckline, tapering out to nothing at the armhole seam. This not only raised the neckline, it took out some length and a just a smidge of room around the bust. I also made the darts smaller, because as they were they were going right past my bust point. Hope that makes sense!
Gorgeous! I love the little feathers. I have some lovely golden brown silk charmeuse burning a hole in my stash. Now you’ve got me thinking about billowy tops…
I don’t know why but I just saw this, 3 months after the fact. The blouse is beautiful and so are you. My goal, after all these years, is to conquer rolled hems and NOT the serger variety.
Thanks, mom (that’s my mom!). I really need to practice. My little trick is to wet my fingers as I am rolling the silk. It keeps it from shimmying all over the place. It still looks a little wonky but this turned out much better than previous attempts!