Cynthia Rowley top-turned-dress

It's been years since I bought a Simplicity pattern, but when they were 10/$10 at Joann recently, I ran out and bought all of the Cynthia Rowley patterns (in addition to several Project Runway patterns). I am so easily swayed by designer labels!

Simplicity 2593

Fabric: Grey/white cotton gingham purchased in 2008 from Fashion Fabrics Club. It is weighty enough that it doesn't need a lining and it's even a bit textured.

Notes on construction/alterations:
I didn't make a muslin for this, given it's loose shape. I flat-measured the pattern at the bust and size 10 (I usually wear Burda size 38) seemed okay. Then I flared it out at the hips and lengthened the top to a dress length.

I only traced and cut out pattern pieces 1 and 2, the front and back bodices. The other pieces - neck binding, armhole binding, and armhole bands - are all rectangles, so I just wrote down the measurements and used my long ruler and rotary cutter to cut those. BWOF has me trained that way.

I should warn you though about the twisted arm bands.

First, the instructions tell you to twist each one 3 half turns before sewing the band's underarm seam. I ended up twisting mine 4 times in order to be able to stitch the underarm seam properly. (My point is that you'll need to make an even, not an odd, number of turns; you'll see what I mean if you make this one up).

Second, if you have any OCD tendency at all, expect it to present itself when you are trying to baste the twisted sleeve bands in an evenly distributed, attractive, and symmetrical fashion. The twisted band is tacked to the finished sleeve in 4 or so places, and I think I spent the entire 1-hour episode of Car Talk working on this Saturday morning. And you know what? In the end, if I had done this blindfolded it would have turned out the same.



Conclusion:
This was my 4th of July outfit. I was going for a kind of simple/APC/Japanese style of dress. I'd love to see how this looks in a dressier fabric, like silk. The twisted neckband/armband is a neat feature that could easily be adapted to use on other patterns. Keep it coming, Cynthia!