Kopy Kats, Part 1

You saw the front of this little top in my last post, so now here's the back. Very simple A-line, with 3 buttons.




And here's the inside:




The front is divided into tiers, with contrasting double ruffles sewn into the seams. In order to trace this off I first ironed it completely flat.





See how flat it is? There are two reasons for this. One, it will be much easier to draw off it is flat and unwrinkled. Two, I won't be distracted by the cuteness of all those ruffles.

I folded the front in half down the center with right sides together making sure to align the side seams. Then I drew around it.






To get a nice curve on the armhole edge, I use this:







Works like a charm. I simply reposition along the arm edge as I go to get a nice curve.

I repeat the procedure with the back. I also make a lot of notes:
Button size
Spacing between buttonholes
Seam size
Size of finished bias binding
Width of back facing
Finished length and width of shoulder straps
Hem depth

Then I retraced the lines with a ruler, identifying each piece. Here's the front, back, and my notes so far:

The back:

The front:

Since this is the first drawing, I made myself plenty of notes. This has no seam allowances yet. I marked the edge to be cut on the fold. I made sure the side seams of each piece were exactly the same length. I drew little dotted lines so you can see where the straps are attached.

An interesting thing I noticed for such a small pattern (it's a size 12 months) is the difference in the depth of the armholes for the front piece and the back piece.

Next up: To draw off the front tiers and ruffles.