Sewing at Last! New Look 6150

After my sewing machine's month long absence awaiting repair, it is finally back at my house.  Unfortunately it was not repaired.  I called the shop again to inquire if their repairman had been in and had fixed/tuned up my machine.  I was told that he has not been in and he now needs surgery, so it will be a few more weeks.  At that point I just went and picked it back up.  Since it does work and only needed the repair to bring it from 90% functioning up to 100%, I knew I would go insane if I was without it any longer.

New Look 6150 was the first thing to be made in 2013.  I had it cut out weeks before and had done as much as I could on my serger.   Once I got started, it went together quite quickly.  However...it was way too big across the chest.  It was almost like a batwing top!  Yuk!  I cut a size 16 and looking back...I'm not sure what I was thinking.  The finished bust size was 40".  For a woven fabric, that would have been fine.  For a knit...well...look for yourself:

The best part of this photo is my freshly painted red family room wall.  The waist was fine too.  The shoulder seams fell far below my shoulders and there was way too much fabric across the chest.

For some reason I forget that I have a dressform and don't use it like I should.  Slipping this top on the dressform (I was thinking of calling her "Sunny" in contrast to her darkness) , it was obvious that the top was way too wide across the shoulders and chest.

I literally chopped off the sleeves and basted in a new stitching line for reattaching the sleeves.  I also took in the underarm by about 1.5"   

It looked a lot better, not perfect, but much better.  There is still some funny pulling and extra fabric at the side seam where the crossover front piece attaches but I'm hoping to avoid that next time by cutting the right size. I'm thinking that I will cut a 12 at the shoulder, a 14 through the chest (and sleeves) and a 16 through the waist.  

So here is the final version:

After all of the tweaking, I really really like this top. The fabric is a soft and cozy jersey knit from Denver Fabrics.  The shawl collar is a nice feature and so are the gathers at the shoulder.  I will definitely make this again, but like I said, I'll cut the right size next time.  :)