During this time when we’re all staying at home, I’ve been trying to only sew fabric I already have (so far, have not bought ANY new fabric!), and only patterns I already own. To keep on track with this, if there’s a fabric or pattern I’ve been considering, I put it on a list and then if I still want it in a month or so, I’m willing to get it. So far nothing on my list had survived the month-test, but the Helen’s Closet Ashton top kept surviving so finally yesterday afternoon I bought it!
You may notice that it doesn’t look quite like the pattern samples. That’s because I wanted to make a linen one after seeing so many people’s versions online, but I’ve been doing such a good job at sewing my stash that I actually didn’t have much of anything in that category. All I had that was close to enough was the leftover bits from my Metamorphic dress that I made about a year ago. Except even those scraps weren’t nearly big enough for the front and back pieces, which are cut on the fold. I realized that I didn’t have enough of either colour to do the whole top, and that I was going to have to piece it from both the purple and the blue. I thought since I was going to end up with center front and back seams anyway, I might as well make the colour-blocking interesting! So I made the left side blue and the right side purple! I’m really happy with the decision, because I think it looks super cool and is a more interesting basic top this way! The fabric is a washed linen that I originally got at Patch.
This is View B of the Ashton, the cropped top. It’s actually 3/4″ shorter than the pattern is supposed to be, but that’s only because the scraps I had required it (yup, that’s how tight I was for fabric!). In future, I would make the crop again but leave it at the original length. This is a straight size 10, which I chose based on the fact that my bust measurement was between 10 and 12 but closer to the 10 (plus I checked the finished garment measurements for those sizes). I did do a quick muslin from a bit of old bedsheet before I made this one, because I didn’t want to waste the only linen I had in case the fit was bonkers. But it was fine. The only thing I might change for a next version is to raise the dart by 1/2″, but it’s such a minor thing that I don’t even notice it on this one unless I’m analyzing specifically for the “perfect fit” (which doesn’t really exist anyway!).
I chose to do the facing finish instead of the bias binding (the Ashton pattern includes both options), and that’s because I have tried bias bindings so many times but I just always have a much more consistent result with a facing. (Don’t @ me, I have tried every single tip and trick in the book for bias bindings, this just works better for me!) The only thing was, I didn’t have enough width in my scraps to cut continuous binding strips OR facings. So I had to piece those too. I use the blue for the neck and arm facings and have seams at the center front and back of those as well, which I was worried about being a bit bulky, but it’s totally fine. The top is finished with a hem facing, which I LOVE and wish it was a detail included on more patterns, although I’m realizing as I type this that I should just draft my own in future. I used purple for that, and didn’t have to piece it. I thought it would be fun to show you photos of the inside of the garment so you could check out the finishings/facings! I used an overlocker/serger on the raw edges, and this blue is the closest colour I had to matching. I’ll call it a coordinating colour. You may notice the bottom edge of the back facing is gaping a bit – it’s not visible from the right side, and I guarantee it’s from me stretching a bit while I serged the edge. I take full ownership of that!
So that’s my Ashton! I really liked the pattern and definitely want to make more of them. It’s a really comfy basic and I think could be great for a lot of customization and hacking. Which I guess I’ve already demonstrated by accident! I think it could be a good base for a drawstring maxi dress in rayon that I’ve had dreams of for ages… *strokes chin*
Beautiful! Good for you using up your spare yardage. I like the idea of using a “wishlist” of sorts and not just impulsively getting the pattern. Bravo!
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Thanks! 🙂 The wishlist is working well but I think it might need more willpower once I am actually able to go out in the world and visit fabric stores again!