neha’s santa rosa top

We love seeing all the versions of the new spring patterns! Neha, from the Advisors Circle, is sharing her new Santa Rosa Top in a beautiful fabric. Take it away, Neha!

If you want to look put together with minimal effort, the Santa Rosa top and dress pattern is for you! It’s one of those patterns that was love at first sight for me. Depending on fabric choice and details chosen, this pattern could look great for both day and evening wear.

Given my current lifestyle and needs, I knew I wanted to pick a fabric that would be great for daytime wear. It was a toss-up between a cotton lawn and Swiss dot cotton – and in the end – the Swiss dot cotton won for my first iteration and details choices, with the lawn waiting for its turn as a dress for late summer backyard parties!

Comparing my measurements, high bust – 37”, waist – 33”, and hips – 42” against those on the pattern envelope: I would be a size 10 at the bust and size 14 at the waist and hips. Then looking at the finished size measurements and cover picture, I knew the finished product would be roomy. So, I decided to be a bit of a daredevil and try to make a size 10 straight. Since the pattern doesn’t specify the height that the pattern is drafted for, I again used the finished length and cover picture to decide on the shirt length. I am all of 5’ tall, so the high hip length would be a bit longer on me, and that would be my preference anyways.

This pattern comes together so nicely – especially the way the placket is installed. The only place that I had some trouble with was finishing the collar at the ends – but really taking my time reading the instructions went a long way in getting a beautiful collar finish. Liesl’s instructions are always so stellar! I decided to skip doing buttons and buttonholes and instead used sew-on snaps to keep a cleaner look to the placket.

All in all, this version turned out really nice, and taking the time to study the size chart, finished measurements, cover pictures, and picking a good fabric substrate went a long way toward arriving at a finished project that I am really happy with!