If you’ve hung around here awhile you know that I’m a big fan of Heather Ross’ prints. Her Mendocino line is no exception. The muslin I posted about on Tuesday was a test run for this top, another Smashing Smock (pattern: Anna Maria Horner’s Seams to Me). This time, though, I made the top backwards, with the yoke pieces made out of a tiny dotted print by Lecien (I don’t think this is available anymore) and the bottom the aqua mermaid print by Heather Ross:

I trimmed it with white piping, which I curved around the corners. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: piping makes everything look better!

Smashing Smock works again for the baby belly!

Serger tidbit:…

Here’s today’s Spring Top Week entries for your inspiration and enjoyment!

LEFT: Lorna of Lorna Doone made the Summer Blouse from Weekend Sewing
CENTER: Mette from Mammaumulius made a top from Danish magazine Ingelise 9/08
RIGHT: Layla from Carrotflowers made this top from a Japanese pattern book

LEFT: Su from Vively Online made a vintage Simplicity top
CENTER: Bekah from Bekahomeka made New Look 6179 in white eyelet
RIGHT: Sue from Berkshire Cottage made Simplicity 4589

LEFT: Mariana from Portugal of Mae da Mafaldinha made her own version of New Look 6677
CENTER: Cheryl of SewCanDo made McCalls 5050 with vintage 60′s satin fabric
RIGHT: Kristin of…

Here’s another one of my creations, the adult-sized version of the Itty Bitty Baby Dress. The pattern was modified from this top from last summer (from a vintage pattern my mom gave me). This time I lengthened the top part with the idea that it would be an empire-waist top, and therefore be a bit more flattering than the original version. I also lengthened the ties and added pockets, a move which would have worked had I not accidentally cut the hemline too short. So now the pockets stick out under the hem when you have your hands in them…oops. Throw this one back on the pile!

The fabric is from Amy Butler’s Midwest Modern line. The background color is almost…

Happy Wednesday! Here’s another batch of new Spring Tops for you to peruse and enjoy!

LEFT: Kate of Curiositys made a top of her own design using a tank top and her Lei Neckline Tutorial (check it out on her blog)
CENTER: Sinje from Mighty Mouse with the first of two contributions today, her version of McCalls 5819
RIGHT: Shean at Diary of an Unconscious Mind made her very first top from my tutorial on SMS

LEFT: Bekah from Bekahomeka made KwikSew 3222 with a flour collar
CENTER: Lauren from Bananas for Breakfast made McCalls 5661 for her first non-baby sewing project
RIGHT: Wendy of West 38th made Jalie 2566 (I’d never heard…

First, let me make sure everyone knows what a muslin is. It’s basically a trial version made out of cheap fabric (hence the name) to make sure a pattern fits correctly before you cut into the fabric you really like. Since I started purchasing designer fabrics a few years ago, I’ve wasted too much of it to think about on tops that didn’t fit quite right. As a result I’ve started accruing cheap fabric to make muslins with. My secret source for muslin fabric is Urban Outfitters’ “bedspreads” (although I have yet to see one used as such); every so often they go on sale, and for about $20 or less you can get roughly 6 yards of fabric in really cute prints. That’s a…

Here’s the second batch of fabulous Spring Tops! I’m noticing lots of tops from Simplicity patterns, fresh spring floral fabrics, and small vintagey prints today…

Click on the image to see larger images, click on the links to see the blogs of the creators and details for each top, and be sure to leave them comments. Enjoy!

LEFT: Emy from Emy Sews created Simplicity 2892 with floral cotton gauze
CENTER: Shannon made Simplicity 2931 with a spring poplin
RIGHT: Caroline from Trillium Design made New Look 6407 with fabric from the Arcadia line.

LEFT: Lulu from Gus + Lulu made McCalls 5388 sleeveless version for maternity wear; check out the cute tie in the back on her…

: : the lovely Kricket models again! : :

: : Akward bathroom mirror shot so you can see it on me (am 24 weeks preggers in this shot, taken a few weeks ago, but you can’t really tell…) : :

This top started out as a copy of the orange knit top that I made for Kricket for Christmas this past year. I botched the neck though and decided instead of the cowl neck to go with a plain scoopneck with ruffle embellishment. I also skipped the elastic at the empire waist, although I might end up going back and adding that when my girth becomes less pronounced post-baby (hopefully).

Here’s the closeup of the pleats and ruffles again. I used

Get ready for the first installment of the Spring Top Sewalong Tops! I am thrilled to see so many fabulous entries — already over 30 and it’s only Monday!!! I can’t wait to see more as the week progresses. To save myself hours of cropping/editing, I’ve made mosaic trios (I apologize in advance for any of the possibly unflattering autocrops), so click on the image to see larger; click on the links to see the blogs of the creators, details for each top, and be sure to leave them comments!

So let’s get to it! In no particular order, here are a dozen new Spring Tops:

LEFT: Ashley from Film in the Fridge (check out her amazing quilts) made the Summer Blouse from…

Spring Top Week is starting early with a Spring Top Tutorial over at Sew Mama Sew!!! I’ve been working on this for a few weeks but didn’t want to give away any surprises, but now it’s up and running so I’m very excited to share it with all of you. Just in time for you last-minute sewers who wanted to make a spring top but didn’t have a pattern!!! Go check it out; you may recognize the green version from last summer’s top week.

I’d also like to thank my svelte and very non-pregant seester Kricket (in the pics above) for helping model the tops, just to show all you “normal” people out there that it…