Shirr Thing for Spring: Day Three-Shirred Cap Sleeve Top

Lazy Saturday Shirt

 For day three of my shirring mini-series, I wanted to share a modified version of a previous top.  Last August I made my first attempt at shirring, by creating the Lazy Saturday T-shirt. I love that shirt, but it needed to be tweaked.  For one, I had to lower the shirring lines, they were a bit too high to be flattering.  I also wanted to crop the sleeves, after all it will be summer soon (I'm hoping), and sadly that trim that adds so much to the top did not stretch, making it a bit uncomfortable now that my arms are filling out a bit.

A cap sleeve is a great option for summer.  It provides needed coverage, but still keeps you cool.  I've had the fortune/misfortune of having the biggest months of my pregnancy  be in the late summer.  When I was pregnant with Clark it seemed impossible to keep cool during July, August, and September.  I'm hoping that this time around this cap sleeve top, along with a few other pieces, will allow me to keep cool while being covered.

For details on how to create the shirred rows below the bust you can see my original Lazy Saturday post.  I did lower the shirred lines to about 7 1/2" below the neckline. Each row is about 10 1/2" long prior to resulting gather.  I shirred four rows, each 1/2" apart.

 I created this shirt from scratch, but I think that adding some rows of shirring below the bust of a loose fitting t-shirt, and maybe some at the small of the back, would be a great way to add shape to a shapeless article of clothing.

To create the shirt I created my own pattern using an existing cap sleeve top.  I added about 1 1/2" to the center fold. Starting with the original measurements  at the center of the bust I tapered out to 1 1/2" at the  hem. I also added about the same measurement to the side seams, tapering out from about the same place.

 Sorry that I don't have any photos of the shirt being modeled, it has been ugly and gray outside, and I can't ever seem to get a decent modeled shot indoors.

Thanks for reading.  Does anyone know of any great sources of stretch trims?  I just ordered a few more decorative elastics, but I'm interested to know what is available out there.