I bought this lovely coral pink silk crepe de chine from NY Fashion Center Fabrics online as I just love the quality of their silks and the color was SO yummy!

I was not sure what I was going to make with this fabric when I bought it, but I knew that I wanted to make a fun, pretty top for summer.

Once I got my sewing mo-jo going, I decided a good match with this fabric could be this cute ruffled cold shoulder pattern from New Look that I had in my pattern stash since early spring:

I know, it’s super trendy, we see this cold shoulder trend everywhere, however, I really like it (in most cases, when it is not super cheap-y looking or just a whimpy little peek a boo shoulder). I don’t want to disappoint anyone, so here are just a few inspirational photos I have gathered of this popular trend:

Pretty, right?

So, I set forth cutting this baby out from this pattern using my lovely fabric.

Things were going along pretty well, cutting out carefully and sewing it in parts in between other projects and life happenings.

Here I am sewing a ruffle to the side seam:

I didn’t realize that this top was lined when I was looking at the back of the envelope and the fabric yardage and type needed for best results. It is quite nice that it is lined, but added a little more work and time to this project that I was not expecting. Luckily, I had a nice tan light weight silk remnant on hand that was perfect for the lining. Here I am examining the outer layer and lining of this top:

I added the ruffle incorrectly, sewing it all the way down to the side of the top instead of leaving it free under the arm to form the “cold shoulder” affect, so I had to carefully unpick the seams and re-sew. It actually didn’t look too bad just sewn down to the side as a tank top, but I really wanted the cold shoulder look, so I took a deep breath, took a seat and got comfortable with my seam ripper.

Here, I pinned the top to my dress form with her little arm attachment thing-y to just see how it was laying before adding the shoulder straps:

I had some major issues with the shoulder straps. The instructions are not helpful for this part and I think the illustrations are incorrect. I sewed it as best I could, but ended up having to unpick most of it, pin it in place and re-sew it so that it made sense and laid flat against the neck. Not fun.

Making the hem is usually my favorite part of most projects because it means I am almost done! This was an easy one with just a double turned under top stitched hem for both the outer and lining layers:

I love how the top turned out, although it is quite large and low at the side under the arm (pretty peek-a boo bra opportunity!) and I should have really made some sort of test muslin. Despite all of the hick-ups with this pattern, I’ll be wearing this top very soon as now summer is pretty much over. I hope to post some good photos of me wearing my new top as long as my hair cooperates, and I don’t look like an old lady trying to look young and hip in it. We’ll see…

Wish me luck!

PS: I LOVE my new top!

Kiss me, Darling!