McCall's 5977: Ruffle Neck Linen Top

This weekend I made McCall's 5977, a pattern that's been in the sewing queue for awhile. 

The fabric is a natural-colored 100% linen from WinMil Fabrics in Boston.  The inside is finished with French seams.   

I suppose I made view D, though I made the neck ruffle substantially larger:

 McCall's 5977

I had cut out the drapey sleeves in View D, but realized after the neck ruffle was stitched on that both that and the sleeves would have resulted in way too much ruffle goin' on. 

If sewn per the pattern instructions, the neck ruffle would be quite twee, which I don't think would have looked right.  The pattern piece is an approximately 8" by 4" rectangle that is folded in half and basted together.  The piece is supposed to be cut 3 times and sewn together.  I widened the ruffle by 3 inches, lengthed it by about 6, and cut it only twice; I cut the second piece in half so that the ruffle seams could be placed at the shoulder seams.  Instead of folding the fabric in half to finish it, I did a narrow hem along the whole edge, which was super-easy and faster than it sounds.

I don't know how I feel about this top; at times I feel that I love it, but then feel that it's just okay.  The pattern irritates me: it's a pull-on style, and to accomadate getting into the garment without a closure, the shoulders are wide - wider than the pattern envelope would lead you to believe.  Because of the wide neck, it feels almost like an off-the-shoulder top, and that wasn't really the look I was going for.  I think that's the slight hesitation I have about this one.

A lady today commented that she loved my top; I dunno, maybe it is a winner.  How do you feel about it?  (No offense will be taken if you think it's meh!)

Burda Trousers Muslin, take 1

So, ummm, yeah, I'm not a Burda size 42:

Is it bad when you can get into a pair of pants without needing a zipper?

OK, in my defense, per my hip measurements I'm in between 2 sizes, so I went up, figuring that European sizes run a bit small.  That, and I must have measured my hips in the wrong place?  I'm normally a 12/14 in the hips in Big 4 patterns, size 10/12 bodice.  I'm going to try a Burda 38 next time.

There goes a few hours of tracing and sewing.  Sigh.  Oh well.  I don't even have fabric to sew "real" trousers in, so perfecting the fit of these is going to be my summer project.  Time to get out the tracing paper again.

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I did have one successful sewing project this weekend:  I spruced up an old wicker chair we got at a tag sale in Philadelphia years ago when visiting friends.  Why my husband and I were both so taken with this random piece of furniture, I don't know.  Perhaps because it swivels?  Here's the before, and after:

I spray painted the chair with a glossy black indoor/outdoor paint, and stitched up the cushions with peach chintz remnants from a local fabric mill.  Though we never had it in our house in the 80's, I just love chintz.  A chintz skirt could work, right?!