Simplicity 4076 - take one

After having read so many wonderful reviews of the Simplicity 4076 top, and seeing as it's in my stash, I decided to give it a try. I haven't done much sewing with knits until more recently, so to get myself back in the swing of things I decided to make a muslin out of some yucky polyester interlock knit that I found for $1/yard.

For this trial run, I made view D - which is the short-sleeved scoop neck version. Based on my measurements and the fact that the knit was really stretchy, I made a size 18. There were a couple of things about this pattern (some of them have already been outlined in other PR reviews and blogs):
1. The neckline band is strange. The instructions aren't very clear about how they want this attached until you read them a few times and then actually do it. I'm going to make some changes to how this is attached the next time I make it, possibly making a new band altogether...we'll see. The band attachment as-is is something that I can live with.
2. I actually need to do a FBA on this view. I generally do not need the FBA, but in this case it's the only way to keep the pretty gathers from getting stretched out.
3. The short sleeves are just too short for me. I modified the pattern and lengthened the sleeves by almost 2" to make them a more appropriate length.

Here is the final muslin


I didn't bother hemming the sleeves or bottom as I accidentally tore a few small holes in the front band while making adjustments. The fabric was not pleasant to work with without stabilizer and I didn't start using stabilizer until it was too late. This one is a wadder but that's OK - the fabric is so yucky I probably wouldn't have worn it much anyway. I'll make one more out of this fabric to perfect the fit before I cut it out of the actual fabric. It's a quick sew and worth the effort because overall it's a nice-looking top.