Several years ago I made my daughter Vogue 8815. That top is now the worse for wear and my daughter asked for another. She chose this wonderful rayon fabric designed by the Rifle Paper Company and produced by Cotton and Steel. If you are familiar with the Rifle Paper Company, this Birch floral is one of their classics. With the touches of navy in the pattern, it is perfect to wear with a pair of jeans to dress it down, or with a navy skirt or dress pants when she wants something more formal. (Link to pattern is am amazon affiliate which will give me a small commission if used to purchase pattern.)
This was my first time working with Cotton and Steel's new rayon fabric and can I say that I am in love! I have worked with other rayon, and this fabric has the drape of a rayon but a touch more body, making it easier to work with. In fact, when I first touched it, I asked if there was some cotton in it and was assured by the rep, that there wasn't. It also isn't as sheer as some other rayon that I have worked with, which I again see as a plus. If I am making something for the warmer weather, I love when I don't have to think about a slip or a lining!
Since my daughter LOVES this pattern (yes, that means she would like more), and it is fitted, I made a muslin (I confess, I am bad about taking the time to do this). It was definitely worth it! Before cutting, I altered the pattern to lower the waist darts by 1 inch and lowered the waist seam by 1 inch as well. The pattern is drafted for a raised waist, but she preferred it on her waist, and I had to lower the darts for the previous version. I then cut a size 10 muslin. The muslin fit well except for some gaping at the armhole. I pinched out a 1/2 inch bust dart on each side and then rotated the dart to the waist darts. This pattern doesn't have bust darts.
As I was making the top from the fashion fabric, the one other change I made was to the hem. When we did a fitting, she liked the unhemmed length (I hadn't lengthened the peplum, because I didn't take the time to include the peplum on the muslin - caught again!) so to use as little fabric as possible for the hem, I finished the hem with a bias binding. This turned out to be a happy accident. The bias binding gives a little weight to the hem which results in a nice shape and swing. It stands out a little bit more from the body and I like the effect.