Vogue 2980: Faux bolero top

I had admired the results of 33 gals who'd reviewed this pattern on patternreview.com. It's out of print, but I was able to find it on ebay. It arrived in the mail Friday. I think it's such a cute pattern. I love the cleverness of the faux shawl/bolero.
I cut it out that very afternoon from fabric I've had in my stash for years: a cotton/lycra black on black print. The bodice sits higher on me across the front than on the model, perhaps because my fabric has less stretch than the fabric in the model picture. Or I should have altered the pattern at bit to lower the front. If I make it again, I will.

My sturdy Husqvarna Viking sewing machine, circa before I was born -- my mother bought it when she was young -- hadn't been used for over a year so it took a bit of time to get it set up right. It was skipping stitches on this knit with a regular needle. So I switched to a ball point needle. STILL skipped stitches. Grrrr. I didn't want to take the time to figure out why. So I used a small stitch length and double sewed each seam.

The sizing on the pattern was very snug, runs extremely "close-fitting" (acc. to the pattern envelope, and as many reviewers commented). So I cut out one size larger than listed for my measurements, which wasn't enough. It was STILL too tight. (Probably my less-stretchy than recommended knit contributed to the problem). I narrowed the side seams to as narrow as possible, which ended up about right. I wore it last night to usher at CAST theatre for the play "The Year of Magical Thinking". (ushers must wear black).

The photo below shows the brocade-like texture of the fabric better. (And it's noticable how much more hourglass shaped my dress form is than yours truly.) Bill asks "Shouldn't the dressform be your exact size? Isn't that the point? "Yes, of course it is." I say. "I just haven't finished adjusting her yet". (It's an antique dress form I got at a yardsale in Florida for $25, then hauled her up to WA with us last spring. I need to oil her metal parts to make the adjusting process easier. (I did the sneaky trick from fashion merchandising... pinning the back at the waist to give her a more sales floor appeal...)

Here's the back view showing the "faux" shawl effect. All in all, a cute pattern I'd highly recommend and plan to make again.

more photos...