When the team at Sinclair Patterns asked if I’d like to try out one of their patterns, I fell for the Lauren Draped Top pretty quickly. I’ve been on a mission to bulk out the tops section of my wardrobe recently, and I thought this would be such a great piece. I’ve not made many pieces with any type of draped detail like this, so I also thought it would be a fun new skill to try out. I knew that I wanted my first version to be in some sort of leopard print (because along with beefing up my top collection, I’m all about beefing up my animal print collection lately!), but I think this pattern would also be a great way to spice up some otherwise simple solid color pieces!
Let me first spend a second telling you about Sinclair’s .pdf patterns. They are no trim, and have a genius way of aligning pieces that I truly felt helped me to keep things better in line than the standard align at the corners method or one small center of the page marking style. The pattern was also fairly easy for me to put together in a small-ish space, as most individual pieces of paper were only home to one pattern piece. I did wish that there had been a place in the instructions that would guide you as to which pieces you needed to print for which view – for instance, I wanted to make the top, not the dress version. There was no diagram or verbiage indicating which pages corresponded to which pattern pieces, so I ended up having to print the whole pattern and then recycle at least 9 sheets of paper (maybe more?) as I didn’t care to cut out the skirt pieces! This one flaw aside, though, I do look forward to trying out more patterns by Sinclair, simply thanks to their great pattern assembly options!
Construction of the top itself was very straightforward. Sinclair Patterns does a very nice job with pattern instruction, and there were helpful hints scattered throughout. The pattern was slightly more difficult than others to cut out, simply related to the sharp corners of all of the individual pleats that make up the drape detail at both the shoulder and waist. I prefer to cut with a rotary cutter, which can make small, sharp angles a little tricky.
Just looking at the cut out pattern, I felt like this was going to be a more time consuming project than it was. Once I was able to sit down at the sewing machine and really get moving, I was able to finish this top in a short afternoon. I would recommend paying close attention to the direction that your pleats lie and the direction that you are sewing through the machine, as this did cause a bit of a problem for me – my pleats were tempted to fold back the wrong way as they passed over my feed dog, which I think may have affected the overall draped look where a couple of pleats did get caught!!
Although I love the idea of this top and the fun drape detail, I am not convinced that it is the most flattering silhouette on me. I’m not a full-busted girl, and I usually just wear a thin bralette for slight coverage. However, this top looks best with a more shaped bra underneath – I’m wearing a T-Shirt bra with shaped cups in these photos. It enhances the shape and detail of the top, but also makes me look quite a bit bustier than I really am! I think that the shape would be more my style if the front lower panel (the one that does not drape) went down a bit further to create more of a deep-V shape.
All of that said, this is a cute top that I plan to keep wearing. I’ve decided I like it best with black leggings or pants and a cute pair of boots – I wore it in Spain with my brown combat boots, but I think it looks great with my black and camel colored boots, too!
Top: handmade by me
Fabric: KnitPop – Ivory Animal Print on Double Brushed Poly Spandex
Pattern: Sinclair Patterns – Lauren Top
Key Ingredients:
Brother XR9500PRW Sewing Machine
Brother 1034D Overlocker / Serger
Schmetz Jersey Ballpoint Needles
Dahle 36×48 Self-healing Cutting Mat
Heat & Bond Soft Stretch (Lite)
Though the pattern used in this post was generously provided to me by the awesome team at Sinclair Patterns, all words and opinions expressed are my own, as always! Links provided throughout this post may be affiliate links – if you choose to purchase any products through these links, I may receive a small commission, at no cost to you. This simply helps me justify the costs of my sewing habit and the time it takes to share it with you!! Happy Sewing!
- XX Elizabeth
