Fringe Festival Top -- Finished

Well, it was a long time in coming, but I finally finished the HotPatterns Fringe Festival Top which is a free download from Fabric.com.  Of course mine is sans fringes, since me and fringes just don't get along, but everything else is just as drafted.

The fabric is a painted poly knit that I got a couple of years ago at Joann's--I love the print even though I don't generally love polyester.  I do wish I had chosen a better layout--I don't like the stripe that ended up as the center front.

The pattern is easy to cut--it only has three pieces: the front, the back, and the collar/tie.  The instructions are pretty simple, too.  Sew the center front seam, then the center back seam, then the shoulder seams etc. etc.  A beginner could easily put this pattern together.  There's not a ton of fitting issues involved in a loose fitting tunic tee and the tie collar is kind of neat.

I used the blind hem stitch on my sewing machine to hem the tie edges -- it made that cool scalloped edge that you see from time to time.  I'm going to do that again on something lightweight and airy--I really liked the way it turned out.

I didn't really have any trouble with anything on this top--with the sole exception that there wasn't nearly enough hem allowance to make a 1" hem on the armholes.  I had to content myself with a 1/2" hem--I'm guessing no one will ever notice  :-)

I did put a bar tack on each side where the collar ties split off from the front neckline--not at all easy on a stretchy knit.  I really should have used stabilizer, but it came out just fine without it.  The tie seems more secure with the extra reinforcement and it's less likely that I would tear the fabric at that seam.  I can be pretty hard on my clothes sometimes--especially stuff that ties.  I also didn't stitch the center front seam all the way to the edge--I sewed only up to the neckline hem allowance.  This made it easy to sew the hem of the V nice and flat and crisp.

Other than that, everything went completely as planned.  It took almost exactly one hour from fabric layout, to cutting, to construction, to hemming.  A nice afternoon project that's pretty stress-free.

I'm going to confess, though, I'm just not sure how I feel about this top.  Maybe the fabric I chose just wasn't quite right or something, because while I don't dislike the finished product, I don't love it either. What do you guys think?