Pattern Review: Scroop Henrietta Maria Top

Hi Readers!

I am undoubtedly a dresses girl, but sometimes I want to throw on some slim-fitting jeans.  The thing is, when I wear skinny jeans, I don’t want to pair them with a curve-hugging top, and instead want to opt for a longer looser fitting blouse that covers up my mid-section.  Yep, I don’t want to show off my full tummy.

The problem is, I don’t have many tops that fit that description.  So I figured it was time to sew one up.  I looked through patterns and came across the Scroop Henrietta Maria Dress and Top.  I noticed this pattern a few months before, but I waffled on it for a while.  The thing is that I have a lot of vintage peasant blouse patterns and I wasn’t sure that I needed this one.  However, all of those blouses are at least 10″ smaller in the bust than I am and I’d have to grade them up.  And…. sometimes I am laaaaazy.  Also, the Henrietta Maria top is different.  It has tucks instead of elastic along with some cool raglan sleeves, the option for a high-low hem and a dress version.  So there it went in my cart and soon I was cutting it out, sewing it up and wearing it!

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Pattern Name:  Scroop Henrietta Maria Dress & Top

Size Range: Bust sizes 30″ – 50″

What size did you make?  48

What are your…..

Measurements: 48-41-52
Body Shape: Pear-ish/Spoon
Height: 5’8
Bra size: 44D

What adjustments did you make and how long did they take?

There are a few changes that I made to this blouse that differs from the pattern.  I was dealing with a limited amount of fabric that has a directional print and attempted to match the checks.  Therefore, I didn’t have enough fabric to cut the full sleeve length.  As the sleeves are shorter and hit me at a different part of my arm, I adjusted the tucks on the sleeve hem to fit me.  The tucks go about 2/3 of the way around and I positioned them on the outside so that it’s less noticeable that they don’t continue all the way around.  The sleeves have facings, so I top-stitched down the area where there aren’t any tucks.

I chose to make View B with the high-low hem and thought the front of the shirt was going to be long enough to adequately cover my midsection, but it was a little bit too short.  I ended up cutting a hem band from my leftover pieces of fabric and sewed that on to add some coverage.  That took quite a bit of time as I attempted to match up some lines on the checks.  Next time I will cut the top about 2-3″ longer in the front and perhaps even it with the dipped hemline in the back.

What was the construction process like? Did the instructions make sense to you?

This top is easier to sew than it looks.  The tucks are a little tedious, but that is probably the most time consuming part of sewing this up.  It has raglan sleeves and you really can’t tell with the bulk how it’s going to fit you until the tucks are sewn.  The pattern includes instructions for bra carriers to keep the top in the right spot, but I didn’t sew them in and might not.  This pattern has instructions for both a full and streamlined instructions.  I used the condensed version, but briefly looked over the full instructions and found them to be easy to comprehend.

How did you like the pattern’s fit? Do you think that the design works well for your body shape?

I like the fit and it works well for how I envisioned it.  I think it would also look nice tucked into a skirt, once I have a skirt that can be paired with this multi-colored print.  Does it look nice on me?  Well…. as you can see from the side view it does add some bulk to me.  It skims over my tummy just as I wished it to, but it also makes me appear larger.  I think the hem band might contribute to that and add a balloon type effect.

Will you make this pattern again? If so, what fit or design changes will you make?

YES!  I already have plans to sew the dress version in a silk/cotton voile.  The Henrietta Maria works really well in seersucker like the fabric I used for this top, so I’d definitely love to sew another in seersucker.  For the dress, I think I will need to widen the pattern at the hip, lengthen it and also add elastic at the waist.  For another top, I would lengthen the front of the pattern about 2-3″ like I mentioned before and possibly make it the same length as the back in the shaped hemline.  I would also omit the hem band as wouldn’t be needed.

Do you have any advice on this pattern for other curvy sewers? Are there any resources or materials that helped you sew this piece up?

This pattern has loose sleeves, so you likely won’t need a full bicep adjustment and it seems to have adequate ease in the waist and hips.  It was a little shorter on me than I envisioned, so you might want to measure to make certain that it’s long enough for you or sew up a muslin to check out the fit.  I usually widen the hip of a shift style dresses, thus the reason that I mentioned making that alteration when I sew a dress version of this pattern.  I didn’t use any resources when I sewed this top.

Pattern Rating (1-5):

Size range: 4
Instructions: 5
Construction process: 5
Final fit: 4.75
Overall rating: 4.68

Overall, I absolutely LOVE the top that I made from this pattern.  As it’s been so terribly hot here in California, I really have no desire to wear jeans and I don’t have a skirt that will go with this top yet, so I haven’t worn it for about a week or so and I wish I could.  I guess that means I need to sew a skirt to wear with it PRONTO!

For more photos/info, please check out my blog, Mrs. Hughes.