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Have you noticed? Tie tops are everywhere! It took me a minute to adjust to this style, having been very over it back in the 80s. I remember it was everywhere, but the iconic look showed a tie top over a leotard worn with tights and leg warmers.
Flashback to Olivia Newton John...
Now I am seeing tie tops all over the place - if you haven't noticed this trend yet, just look on Pinterest.
I purchased this striped skirt/dress several months ago - in April I think. (I plan to talk more about it in another post.) You can wear it as a skirt, doubling the wide waistband, or pull it up over the bust and wear it as a dress.
The days are long gone (if they ever existed) that I would wear a bandeau style, so I wanted to make some sort of coverup. I actually bought another pattern to make a knit coverup, then I lost it. Meanwhile, Margy made this tie top, using Butterick 3250, an OOP pattern for wovens.
(Ironically, I just checked the copyright on this pattern and it's dated 1985.)
I don't know about you, but I want most everything Margy makes, and this was no exception. I tracked down a copy of the pattern (which was in horrendous shape, but that's another story). The fabric was purchased a long time ago from FabricMart. Originally I had bought enough to make a voluminous skirt, but I decided to use it for this. The fabric is black with circles. The edges of the circles are raw and so they are a little frayed, creating a great texture. The entire fabric is also just-so-slightly glittery and transparent. It's 100% cotton (sans glitter) and very lightweight, almost like a voile.
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I do not, as a rule, like glitter and shine, but I am getting used to it. Dare I say, I even like it? The dress has a silver thread running through the white stripe, so they complement each other. The cotton fabric is so soft - it makes me want to sing "The touch, the feel, of cotton. The fabric of our lives!"
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This pattern sews up amazingly fast, with its dolman sleeves, cut on facings, and no buttons or buttonholes. I used the size 14, my new "standard" size, but there is lots of ease in the pattern. I didn't need to add any width for my bust, so I did a vertical only FBA. I added 1.5 inches in length, using a side seam dart.
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There is a pleat at center back.
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I love this little top! I think I will be getting a lot of wear out of it.
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