I’ve been trying to make more knit tops that have ready to wear finishes. I’m a regular Chico’s shopper and have lots of their tops. I had one that I especially liked. I laid it on top of some tracing paper and traced the front and back. The sleeves were part of the front and back. After tracing the pieces, I made sure the center front and center back were straight as they were to be cut on fold. I made sure the sides were the same on the front and back so they would match.
I took a Craftsy class—Sewing Fashion Knits by Linda Lee. This is a great class and I highly recommend it.
• It does a great job teaching a traditional binding and a ready-to-wear binding. In my Chico copy, I used the ready-to-wear binding.
• It recommends using a product she sells on her website called Fusi-Web to secure the hem on the sleeves and the bottom. This is a double sided fusible and creates a temporary bond. Then hemming with a cover stitch machine is a snap.
• It recommends using a product she sells on her website called Fusible Hem Tape. I used this to stabilize the shoulder seams.
This top is a perfect replica of the Chico’s top. I used a two-way stretch I bought from Roz a while back! Perfect use for it! And it was amazingly easy!