New Bianca

I made another Bianca top today. This time I added 1/4" to the shoulders, and added about 1/4 " to each side seam at the hip. I made the sleeves and bottom hem all 2" longer. I also used the coverstitch to do the hems to provide more elasticity. This time I traced the longer sleeve which is wider at the elbow, and then cut it off at the desired length. This sleeve is much more comfortable than the previous one.










You can see here that the neckline is just serged and turned under. I did use the coverstitch on the hems though.







Before I cut this out, I decided I would line it up with a Christine Johnson top that fits me well. It is from the basewear 2 pattern. Surprisingly, the shoulder slant is already there and matched perfectly my altered shoulder on this top! No wonder I liked the fit of that one so much. The biggest difference is that the CJ has a higher armscye and at least 2" in on each side at the waist for shaping! This top is pretty straight. Unfortunately, I have gained about 10 pounds since I made the CJ tops, so this is probably a better fit for me right now.

I saw a post on Cidell's blog about her serger being out of commission right now. It got me to thinking about how much I use mine. I think my serger is one of the best sewing investments I have made. I bought it about 20 years ago, and it doesn't have any special feet or even a differential. It just serges. I can use left or right needle or both, and can do a flatlock or rolled hem. That's it. Nothing fancy. But it has definitely been a workhorse and I use it on almost everything I sew.