Love Notions Melody Dolman

Pattern Stats: Melody Dolman
Pattern designer: Love Notions 
Pattern level: 4/10
Time start to finish: 4.0 hours
Suggested fabrics: Woven such as rayon challis, cotton, chambray
My fabric: Rayon challis from Mily Mae Fabrics 
Price: $8 new release sale through 6/24/19 then $10


If you haven't noticed, front tie tops are all the rage right now. I just love the look! I've been trying to decide how I wanted to hack a woven pattern to make one when I saw a tester call for the Melody Dolman from Love Notions a couple weeks ago. 

I've been following Tami on instagram and find her information alway very helpful and interesting. I haven't made a Love Notions pattern though in a couple years and thought this pattern test would be a great opportunity to change that. As you've seen, I'm trying to expand my knowledge and skills when it comes to woven sewing. 


What I loved about the Melody Dolman is that it's designed to work both tied or untied without any modifications. The only difference between the two looks is unbuttoning a button or two to have the length for the tie. 

The Basics

This is a dolman pattern which means the sleeve and bodice are one integrated piece. This takes a bit more fabric but alleviates the need to attach a sleeve piece. Also, dolmans aren't as fitted across the shoulder so have more room for someone like me, who has a wider shoulder. With this pattern specifically, there is only a short sleeve cuff option.



The pattern features both standard and full bust front pattern pieces. There are directions in the tutorial to determine which pattern piece you should use. With including the full bust pattern piece, this reduces the need for people to do bust adjustments. Based on my measurements, I used the standard pattern piece and made a straight medium. My height is 5'5" so I didn't make any adjustments for that either. 

Options

For Melody options, there really is only if you want to put the pocket on. I chose not to include the breast pocket on this top. Otherwise, the fabric you'd like to use and buttons to coordinate are big decisions that affect the fit. 



For the fabric, I chose to use a rayon challis. The body is the Alena black and white stripe with blue flowers print from Mily Mae Fabrics. I paired it with a black rayon challis for the cuffs and collar. 

Construction

This shirt is constructed using very few pieces, which I loved! There are 2 mirror front pieces, a back piece, cuffs and collar pieces. The front lower collar and button placket are formed by folding over the front side with interfacing attached to the wrong side. This created an easy to sew and clean front. It was one of the most genius pattern pieces and construction I've come across. 



The fit changes significantly depending on the fabric content and the interfacing used. While the pattern works with most woven fabrics, the drape will change if the fabric is lighter or be stiffer if the fabric is heavier. For interfacing on this specific shirt I used Pellon 906F fusible sheerweight which I found to be too stiff. Through testing, Tami has found the ideal interfacing to be the Pellon shape-flex. If the interfacing is too stiff it makes it difficult to tie the bottom. 



The only change I personally made to this pattern was adjusting the button placement. I wanted the top button to be lower than the button guide so I lowered it closer to my bust. I still used 5 buttons but feel I should have spaced them out more and went with 4. That's what testing and sewing is all about though. It's how to find what you prefer and learning from that. 

One thing to note is that my blouse is a combination of the first and second versions. The released version has some minor changes from this make. 

Details

The Melody Dolman is available through the Love Notions website. As part of it's new release the pattern is on sale for $8 through Sunday June 24, 2019. Then the pattern will be available for $10. 

My posts may feature affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase from these links, I receive a small percentage in compensation at no cost to you. I may have received patterns or products to test or review but the opinions I voice are my own. 

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