The petal top is finished!

It is finished. And I must say that I am proud. My home life has been totally nuts lately, so I was only able to work on this in little chunks of time, so I have no idea how long it took me to make this. But I really like how it turned out.

I’m calling my version of this top the “hippy top.” Emma’s instructions have you sew a ribbon on top of the fabric at the bottom, where I decided to sew in that crocheted bit. And she has you make a fabric flower, which I have never liked and I thought might make the top hang funny if it were to weigh it down somehow.

Here’s my advice for this top:

1. Don’t make it in the smallest size — ages 2-3 — (that’s what I did and it just made things harder). Or, if you insist on making it in the smallest size, make the nightdress (page 84) first. The nightdress is the same pattern, but the body pieces are longer. Why follow this advice? If you make the smallest size, then the sleeves will be almost the same size and shape as the body pieces and you’ll spend some frustrating minutes trying to align all the pieces. Also, when you go to put in the elastic for the neck and the ends of the sleeves, it’s trickier with less fabric and thus less room for error.

2. Prepare yourself for very careful work on Step 4, when turning under the neck and sleeves to make room for the elastic. It’s frustrating to do on a curve, but at least it’s going to be all bunched up anyway, so there is room for error there.

3. If you make the smallest size, cut your elastic strips to 16″ and 9″. Emma tells you to make a 24″ strip for the neck and 2 10″  strips for the sleeves, and then to measure you kid to make sure. I followed her directions for the neck and found that it was waaay too long, so then I made the lengths for the sleeves only 8″ and that’s a bit tight. It might be that Sophia has funny proportions, but when I go to make the nightdress I’m going to make a 24″ one and 2 10″ ones. Or, maybe I’ll just make the net size up.

This top is for sale on etsy.

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