this project is kind of a let-down, to be honest. i made the sorbetto top, courtesy of colette patterns. i had some high hopes for this one, y’all – colette patterns are so pretty & well-drafted and ughh i even had the best fabric. however, the appeal of overfitting (which isn’t normally a gigantic problem for me, but it certainly is when the garment in question is supposed to hang loose!) turned this guy into something kind of ho-hum. not at the fault of the pattern itself – i think i just needed to cut it bigger. oh well, live & learn, right?
i’ll start by showing you the pretty fabric i bought:
isn’t it lovelyyy? sheerish, 50″ wide, 100% rayon. i bought it (a little over a yard) for $5! too bad it’s a BITCH AND A HALF to sew. omg i’m never sewing sheer fabrics again.
anyway.
i did take my time with this pattern, doing my best to cut accurately – which, despite my best efforts, i think that was a big part of the sizing problem i ended up with, besides the fact that i cut it a size too small in the first place. for construction, i used french seams & a teeny-tiny rolled hem.
it looks ok on the dressform, but you can tell that it’s not swingy enough. and the armholes are waaay too small. this shit was pretty much cut-into-my-armpit-city, USA. not comfortable! not one bit!
look at how pretty the bias tape looks, though! nevermind that it kind of fights with the sheer rayon; it was all i had on hand and i would throw myself off the shelby street pedestrian bridge into the nasty cumberland river before i put myself through the torture of cutting sheer rayon bias strips, wtf.
despite this, i wore it anyway:
(the purple skirt is also me-made… i’m not participating in me-made june, but damn if i haven’t been subconsciously following the rules anyway)
it looks good in the picture, but i could feel every problem brewing as the day went on. the worst was when i looked down during a staff meeting and realized the bust darts were straight chillin on my high bust. uhhhmmmm how did i not notice that! wth, i should know better than this! the side seams are funny because they don’t hang straight down – they curve with, well, my curves. LOL.
yeeeah i don’t think i’ll be wearing this again. too bad, because the construction is really beautiful & the fabric itself is gorgeous (and yes, i have more, and no, i won’t be cutting back into it. well, not righ this second). i think it would be a great fit on someone smaller, someone with a smaller chest. in the meantime, i will be making this pattern again – just in a size 4, not a 2 🙂 i have this lovely floral voile that i also picked up for something like $3/yard that i think would really suit this pattern.
oh, and while we’re on the subject of fabric:
leopard print peplum jacket with deep teal lining? shucks, don’t mind if i do!
LLADYBIRD 
good job!
Oh wow, that fabric is SSSSOOOO beautiful! The top looks gorgeous on you, you’d never know you had fitting issues with it. And please, please, please make that leopard skin peplum jacket with teal lining!
I also had a problem with fit after making this top. The construction was easy-peasy, however once I tried it on, it was way to small for my bust. I’m passing it on to sister in law who is far less busty. Live and learn. I love the print on the fabric, but hear you about sewing with sheer fabric. It’s a royal pain.
Oh, that is so pretty! It’s a shame it doesn’t fit. You could fix the armholes and perhaps let out the pleat some (or completely) if you wanted to salvage the fabric. That would not solve the bust dart problem, though.
I just made one of these as well. I DO have an over-fitting problem but I resisted this time! Even so, next time I might trace the next size up just from the top of the side seam through the bust dart, since it pulls there when I move my shoulders back. (It’s my cheater’s FBA.)
That’s too bad it’s small because the fabric is so beautiful !!!
Oh what a beautiful top! But a shame that it digs into your armpits. I have several dresses that do that, and I hardly ever wear them.
Did you cut the size you normally wear? Did you go by the size chart online? I’m just curious to know before I try this top. Thanks!
i cut a size 2, which is normally the size i wear in colette (sometimes i cut 4’s but i always end up bringing in the waist seams). probably should have cut a 4 or a 6. i do have problems with loose-fitting garments because i don’t normally like a lot of ease in my clothing, so i end up over-fitting. i say err on the bigger side because you can always make it smaller if you need to 🙂 i am going to round down the armholes of this guy & give it 1″ seam allowances, i think that will solve the issue.
i hope this helps you!
Thanks for the tips!
Stumbled onto your blog while Googling finished Sorbettos because I’ve been dying to make this top… I LOVE your outfit! The fabric is darling and with your purple skirt, just fab! Great work.
My version was a bit too tight as well. I didn’t bother to measure the 4x4in test square when I printed it out. When I measured it after the fact, I noticed it was actually 3.75in. The second time I made one, I made the seams and the pleat 1/8in smaller. This did the trick! I love your fabric so much!
wow, i didn’t even think about measuring the text square. i am gonna check that out when i get home. it’s been long enough now that i’m willing to try sewing with that fabric again 🙂 haha!
lovely fabric! too bad about the fit. I, too, was googling finished sorbettos. I’m currently trying to fit my *fourth* muslin version of this pattern. it seems like it should be so simple but those darn bust darts are giving me trouble. That and the armholes were too small on me, too.
Sheer fabrics like that suck. I need to keep telling myself not to buy stuff like that. It’s beautiful but trying to sew it is so hard!
I hope your voile one turns out better!
I had the exact same problem with this top! my measurements were exactly a size 2 but it is super tight around the bust and armpits! It was really cute though so I just hacked a bit out of the armpits it fits slightly better now.
I’m just finishing my first sorbetto, I have made lots of pattern alterations because I wanted sleeves and a high nckline with a peter pan collar. It does seem to fit ok though because the first thing I did was a FBA. It does seem that to fix those bust darts this pattern really does need a FBA and maybe the darts dropped a little.
I love your fabric and hope you get your fitting issues sorted. Dont give up on it because it really is a very versitile pattern.