There’s a new indie pattern designer to check out — Daughter Judy. Chelsea launched recently with four patterns and I immediately bought three of them!
I’m not in the brain space for pants fitting right now – even though I really need pants – so I decided to make the Barons Dress before diving into the Adams Pants. I really love the red photo sample and wanted to create something similar. I chose a 10oz bleached denim from my stash that even had some of the sun bleaching the red canvas sample has.
This top has lots of fun topstitching, a high collar, center back button closure, and 3/4 length sleeves that are more like full length sleeves on me.
Because I love pockets, I added some side seam friends. Here is a lackluster photo collage of how I did this.
Things I would do differently next time.
- Make the buttonholes on the placket before installing. I used a 10oz denim so the seams were THICK. I can’t quite remember which two I made first but ultimately I had to change the direction of one set, so the top two are vertical and the bottom two are horizontal. Even with my compensation plate, my machine was struggling.
- Use lining fabric for both sides of the pocket to reduce bulk.
- I’d serge the side and underarm seams separately, then stitch, and then press open if I plan to use a heavyweight fabric again. I had a little woopsies with my serger on one side seam. It was a case of not paying attention and rushing, so please don’t give me serger tips – I know exactly what happened. The patch is pictured below.
I’d recommend this pattern for advanced beginner to intermediate folks who have a good understanding of garment construction. The instructions do kind leave some things up to the maker, which I’m fine with but might be a little frustrating for some.
I love your denim version of the top, and the pockets are a great addition. Thank you for the photos – very helpful – I can now confidently add this type of pocket to a project I have in mind.
I find the two horizontal & two vertical buttonholes quite perfect, given their location! I imagine they’re easier to use as a result?
Thanks! Yeah I think the different buttonhole orientations worked out pretty well! They’re not the prettiest buttonholes though since the surface was so uneven. I don’t think vertical holes make it any easier to button up though – I have a M&M Florence top with all horizontal buttonholes at the CB and it’s no harder to button up.
Interesting, and good to know re the orientation of the buttonholes. As for the ‘quality’ of them, I think that’s all machine. My older models breezed through buttonholes on heavy fabrics, but not my current model – it struggles with any surface variation. Been using Bernina for 50 yrs, so I say with confidence.
I should have pulled out my manual buttonhole foot but the process is different on my newer 770 than my 530 and I didn’t both to figure it out.
Thanks for sharing this one – this is right up my alley! The pockets really make it great.