The One Where I Hack The Springfield Top By Cashmerette

Greetings lovely people.

I am very excited today, as, if you'd told me I would be writing this a week ago I would have laughed at you.

This is what happened...

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I finally got up the courage to post a picture of one of my makes on the Curvy Sewing Collective Facebook Page. Apologies for the dodgy photo. It was taken on the balcony outside my daughter's piano lesson. My little pup, Candy, was very confused as I what I was doing. 

It was a version of the Cashmerette Springfield Top that I had hacked by adding a V-neck and altering the dart to under bust gathers.  I was completely overwhelmed by the postitive response (I shouldn't have been, its such a wonderful, supportive community) and some people actually asked me if I could share my method.  I emailed the lovely and talented Jenny Rushmore (aka Cashmerette) to ask if she minded and she gave me her blessing. So, without further ado, here it is ladies!

Cheshire Cat's Springfield Hack

You could do this with any darted top or dress pattern. I've used the Springfield because I love the fit (I'm an 18G/H) and I love the shaping through the princess seems at the back.

1.      Trace your pattern piece. I use tracing paper. I bought a 200m x 1.5m roll after a doing a block development course and am about half way through it.

   

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2.      Bisect the dart. To do this measure the distance between the dart legs at the side seams and mark a mark at the halfway point. Then draw a line from this point through the dart point but extend it a few cm beyond.
   
3.      Find the actual bust point. I know that mine is 12.5cm from centre front but you can simply measure 4-5cm  from the dart point as this is a typical amount to move the dart point from the bust point for a larger bust (3-4cm for a smaller bust).
   
4.      Decide where you want your under bust seam to be. I chose 3 inches (I know, naughty, using both metric and imperial) above the waist at centre front curving down to the waist.
5.      Cut along this line.
   
6.      You will be using the top part only for a minute. Cut through the dart legs to the true bust point. Cut a line straight down from the bust point.
   
7.      Remove the dart and pivot the side section at the bust point until the side seams meet. You can now see where your new dart would be. It looks so much smaller than the old one but as you can see its the same size it just doesn't extend as far.
   

   

   
   

   
   
   
   
8.      Now we are going to turn the new dart into gathers. Mark the corresponding positions to the dart legs on the lower piece. I wanted to spread the gathers for a gentler look so I marked a spot 3cm to each side of the dart and 3cm to each side of the marks on the lower piece. These marks will be where you gather the excess into when you sew the pieces together.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
9.      This is a good time to retrace your pieces or to stick some more paper underneath to allow room for a seam allowance and to fill the gap using a curve to draw in the missing bit.Add your seam allowance to your new pieces.
   
   
   
   
10.      I changed the neck line slightly by redrawing it like this. I used my french curve instead of a straight line for a softer line.
    
11.       Don't forget to label everything!
12.       Cut and construct as usual. I do my gathers just after I stay stitch the neckline and then sew the 2 front pieces together.

I hope this has been helpful! 

xx The Cheshire Cat.