PR RTW Contest

In the back of my mind, I had the notion of entering the Pattern Review Ready to Wear Contest this month.  The month sped by, though, and I didn't really have an inspiration or plan, so I let it go.  Then, I was flipping through the Boden cagtalog, and BAM.  There was a ton of things I covet in there, but this was the simplest one, and I had the bright blue cotton shirting in my stash.  It's not crinkly or as drapey as the fabric in the original, but I'm really pleased with how close it looks to the original.

The Boden top is here. 

My pattern starting point was New Look 6849, which I've used several times before.  It's a nice top for a woven fabric that doesn't need a zipper if you don't do the back darts and make the neckline large enough.  Some changes I made were to eliminate the center front seam and the back darts.  I also made it a bit wider under the arms to give some room for the elastic gathering. 

Let me know if you have any questions about how I did this.  It wasn't too hard and only took three hours (during which I was watching tv and sewing pretty slowly).

And just in case you need some comic relief today, this is the problem with your photography team being 5 and 2:

They each need their moment in the spotlight... every time

and they pout when you kick them out of the photo.  Notice my hand still in the pocket for the shot like the one on the website.