Rae's Spring Top: Liberty Tunic with ties

Every year for the Spring Top Sewalong I sew along too. I don't enter my tops obviously but I get to show them off on the blog and add them to the pool. Here's my first top:

UPDATE: This top was a prototype for the Bianca Pattern

It's made with a basic white poplin which is very smooth and a bit of Liberty of London peacock feather print which I bought at Haberman Fabrics. I love teal and peacocks, so I will admit to you that I probably would have made an entire top out of the feather print were it not for the crazy price tag. And actually I am a little glad I didn't because once I got this home I realized that the rows of feathers slope downward across the grain slightly (they're not straight; you can tell in the pictures that they droop to the left). And it's not diagonal enough to look purposeful, so I'm not sure what's up with that. You'd think for $44/yard they could make sure the design ran straight across the fabric?!? I guess not.

My main goal this year for myself was to keep it simple. Last year I had such ambitious plans for my spring tops I just about killed myself trying to execute them and the results were not exactly great (the clown top springs most readily to mind). So this year I decided to make a pattern that didn't require sleeves, a trend which seems to be pretty popular right now. In other words, the top is comprised of two main pieces (front and back), along with a few other embellishments (in this case there's a placket and some ties).  And I'll mention it plainly since I always get this question: this is my own, hand-drawn, not-available pattern.

I find I really like empire waisted tops, but wanted this one to be slimming in front (read: not maternity-esque). The ties begin at the side of the placket which creates a flat portion in the center of the top which I think looks nice, rather than being gathered or baggy. It also (unfortunately) creates that little crease at the bottom of the placket but I don't mind that too much.

sometimes windblown is sexy. most of the time it's just funny.

The only thing that I would like to add to this top yet is pockets. I love pockets!Don't forget to VOTE every day this week for your favorite tops! You can access the current vote from the left sidebar of my blog! And have you seen our awesome prizes here and here? Fun!