For my third sewing slump buster attempt I chose Kwik Sew 3567. I knew I would love this top! Its contrasting side panels and close fit are flattering for my body type – the close fit makes the most of my small bust and the contrasting side panels lengthen and optically slim my short torso. I was sure this pattern would be successful for me. I searched my fabric stash for two coordinating knits and I made sure to pick STRETCH knits this time! Okay, so what could possibly go wrong?

Well, not the color coordination of the fabrics. That was spot on! The green in the main body of the top and the green in the blue and green of the dot print side panels matched EXACTLY. And the fit was great! I went with the size medium since Kwik Sew seems to run more true to size than the Big Four (McCall’s, Butterick, Vogue and Simplicity). I remembered to shorten the top at the shorten/lengthen lines by a total of two inches. So this top isn’t too long like others I’ve been unhappy with in the past. What’s the problem then? It’s the color of the top. It’s a yellowy lime green. Don’t get me wrong, I love green, it’s one of my favorite colors. But not this green. THIS green is just NOT GOOD. The color reminds me of a bad upper respiratory discharge. Yikes.

On a more positive note, Kwik Sew 3567 is a “Kwik Serge” pattern. That means you can use your serger for most of the pullover construction. This technique is a time saver since I usually construct on my sewing machine and then also serge all the seams to create a clean finish on the interior. Kwik Serge patterns make most of the regular machine sewing unnecessary, and that cuts production time quite a bit.

Unfortunately the time savings disappeared due to the amount of time I spent perplexed by mistakes in the instructions. The first error involved the three different necklines included with 3567. The pattern cutting instructions have the neckband pattern piece numbers mixed up for views B and C. So I cut out the pieces as instructed for view B but I ended up with the neckband for view C instead. Luckily I had enough fabric to recut the correct pattern piece.

In the sewing procedures, the step for stitching the center back seam of the neckband for view B was skipped. This is problematic if you don’t realize that the center back neckband seam must be sewn before attaching it to the neckline. Yup, I went ahead and pinned the neckband to the neckline without sewing the center back neckband seam. (I’m a great instruction follower.) Fortunately I realized that it wouldn’t be possible to sew the neckband center back seam after the neckband was sewn to the neckline. So I didn’t go ahead and sew it. At this point I reread all the sewing steps several times before I realized that the step for sewing the center back neckband seam (for view B) had just mistakenly been omitted. I think someone really new to garment sewing could have been seriously tripped up here. Difficult to understand instructions are one of my pet peeves about sewing! I really think that’s one of the main reasons sewing is not as popular as I think it should be.

Putting the pattern instruction mistakes (and my poor color choice) aside, I do like this Kwik Sew pattern. With the length adjustment it fits me well and I think it’d make a great bike jersey! I plan to sew it again soon, but next time in a color that doesn’t remind me of a bad cold. Now on to my fourth sewing slump buster choice. Stay tuned, it has to get better sometime!