Jasmine is a bleah

I am sure that by this point, you've figured out what styles just don't suit you.

The middy blouse does nothing for me.

This is the 1980's Princess Diana take on it.

This is the Jasmine top from Colette Patterns. I've highlighted the tie, as the Fassett marble print is too busy for it to show up by itself. And yes, I sewed up the side seams here. 

I have made a sack.

Partly it's the ratio of neckline spread (9 1/2" neck to 2 1/2" shoulder.

 Partly it's the huge angle at the shoulder seam. When I was at this point in finishing, I got that awful deja vu sensation, when I remembered the last time I did something with this angle there and it SUCKED.

It could be the rise in the back neck line (to offset the width of the opening, a rise prevents the shoulders from diving off you)

After I brought up the neckline, the angle and width of the collar makes it look like a nurse's smock.

 I didn't finish the bust dart, but it will accomodate a B cup easily. As a AA cup, I don't need the dart.

 I took the excess height out of the sleeve (also don't care for puffy sleeve heads) and should have angled the hem line up more.

I will salvage this, as I love the fabric and there's some good in here.  I'll shorten the sleeves to caps, take off the collar, undo the side seams and eliminate the dart, bring in the front and back seams at the top to close up the yawning gap of a neckline, smooth out that crap transition at the shoulder seam. A good simple bias top will result.

I'm burying this comment at the end of this post because no matter how I slice it, no matter my changes (brought up the neckline an inch, sewed down the collar, didn't run the collar around the back but inserted it into the shoulder seam, used a light cotton shirting in a busy pattern) it still stinks. I had hoped the bias cut would take the boxy out of this pattern, but it doesn't.

Right now there's a lot of new pattern companies making stuff and this is great!

A lot of what they are making are sacks. Tubes with arms. No styling, no ingenuity, just sacks. I applaud new endeavors, I'm making patterns myself, but why clutter up the landscape with unimaginative stuff that can only be pulled off by people who look good in sacks.

A cute girl, a pretty girl, will look good in anything. The rest of us need styling. Sewing Workshop and Textile Studio have designs that really sing, because of details and construction inventions, and great instructions to boot. So far, I'm not seeing much that isn't a tube. Which is the kind way of saying 'sack'.

I did like the booklet. Well, I downloaded this pattern, but I did like the instructions. Reviews I'd read all mention how the back is too wide, and putting darts to take care of that. I would be cautious making this up if you are flat chested or don't like a plunge on the neckline (that inch I brought it up has screwed up the proportions of the neckline).