Sandra Betzina Today's Fit Vogue 7717 View A Top

Another out-of-print Sandra Betzina Today's Fit- Vogue 7717. (You may still be able to order it directly from Vogue or check eBay. There are at least five listed on there right now, ranging from $3 to $14.99.) 7717 is yet another example of an unflattering pattern photo which causes you to skip over adding the pattern to your collection. Take a look at the line drawing - you don't even notice View A's sleeve treatment on the model. That's a separate pattern piece! The sleeve just looks rolled up and frumpy in the photo. There are a lot of very nice details in the entire pattern.

I made View A with the leftover Watercolor Rose Charmeuse from Jo-Ann's I used as the jacket lining for 8522. Following my new ground rules for the Today's Fit patterns, right from the start I added 3" to the length. Even now as it is in process it looks the bare minimum needed and next time I'll add another inch. Sandra's not that petite, so I have no idea why her top patterns run so short compared to the other Vogue patterns. I read on someone's blog that this pattern ran a little snug. Of course, after I cut out my regular size. And it was too tight in the chest. Oops. After I had applied the neckline bias binding, too. Fortunately I still had enough to cut another front and back putting back the size I chopped off during layout, but not enough for the bias. So I created facings instead. Truthfully, the facings looked much better than the bias trim. The first top's neckline with the staytape and bias got all bunchy looking. I interfaced the facings and skipped the staytape and liked those results much better.

I think the hidden gem in this top are the sleeve caps. I loved how they hit just right on the upper arm and angled up slightly. Very flattering and stylish. Yay Sandra!

Love how it looks with the 8522 jacket...