Stripey Summer Beach Cover-up

This weekend I made something! A beach cover-up, that was originally going to be a dress.  It's Simplicity 2865, a Built By Wendy pattern.


I got this fun fabric from my one of my favorite sewing instructors.    I'm finally making my way through her stash.  On Tuesday, I'm going to a friend's house because she is moving and wants to get rid of some of her fabric. I have the best friends!


The color isn't quite true, but it was the best picture I could get in my apt.  


Here's the back and the close-up of the front.  You can kind of see the shirring too.

The Review from PR:


Pattern Description: 

Misses Knit dress, mini dress, or top. I made the minidress without the weird collar.
Pattern Sizing:

4, 6, 8, 10, 12. I made the 10. 

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?


Mostly, I made some adjustments! I added shirring to the sides to camouflage some of my mistakes!

Were the instructions easy to follow?

I did not use them for the most part! Woohoo! I did not use them for the first side inset and should of because I made some big boo-boos. The staystitching and clipping instructions for the inset worked well for the second side. I should have done that the first time instead of trying to pin together a very thin, rolling fabric and serge.
What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?

I like the idea of the inset, but it was really hard to install. I pretty much constructed the whole thing with my serger except for the topstitching and hem. I would probably redraft the pattern to not include the inset. I think I would like it better.
Fabric Used:

Miscellaneous (cotton, poly, ?) jersey knit. It was very thin, rolled like a B*****! I got it for FREE though from one of my sewing instructors. I loved the crazy bright stripes. Reminded me of the 80s and Rainbow Brite.
Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:

The inset I serged was a disaster and I tried to fix it a number of times, but just couldn't. Instead, I sheared the fabric for 3 inches on either side of the side seam, about 3 inches deep to hide my flaws. It worked pretty well. To put on the binding, I just folded it in half, WS together, and with raw edges even, I serged it to the neck and arm holes. I changed the order of construction to make it easier to serge. I straighted out the hem mostly, because for some reason (probably my hasty cutting) the bottom pieces did not match up well. I used steam-a-seam in the hem and then topstitched.
Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?

I would sew it again without the inset. I would like to make a simple tank top.
I would recommend it to people who are very experienced sewing with knits and have the time to set in the inset properly.
Conclusion: 

Its good enough for a beach cover-up.