Sewing a knit top

I purchased a really comfortable shirt and wanted to reproduce it in a different knit fabric and different colors.

Here are some of the details of this pretty little top:

The collar is one piece and it stands up because it has some boning in the middle of the collar, which is cut slightly shorter than the collar itself.  I purchased another blouse that had this detail last summer and liked it too.  It's a fun way to make a collar without interfacing.

The left front has two patch pockets that were placed on the diagonal, which is a really cute idea.  Two small buttons are sewn onto the top of the pockets.

The bottom has a small peplum sewn onto it,   The back and front are separate and they overlap slightly.  It's a nice little feminine feature.

There is a piece cut on the bias that is sewn onto the front right corner.

Have you ever taken a pattern off of an existing garment?  It's pretty easy, and although I didn't take any pictures along the way, this is how I did it.  I laid a large piece of foam core board onto the table.  I placed a Pellon gridded interfacing on top of the foam core.  Then I spread out the shirt and either drew around the edges, or poked a large pin through the seams.  I did this for every piece, front and back.  Then I drew a line through all the holes made in the interfacing to get the outline of the piece.  (I use 3/8" seams for my clothing, so I added 3/8" seams to the outside edges of the pieces).  I noted where the seams might be larger, such as the hem.  The final step was to make sure the seams that were to be sewn together actually matched.  There are several really good articles and videos on the internet on how to do this process.

I looked over the shirt to figure out the sewing steps and typed up a set of sewing instructions to follow.  The final step was to lay out the pieces on a quick sketch, using 60" wide fabric, to calculate the yardage.

And voila!  The pattern was all ready to go.  I misplaced the pattern for almost a month and panicked that I had to start over again.  But, luckily, I located it!

Here is my finished top.  Because the fabric was multi-colored and geometric, I left off most of the cute little features of the original top.  You can't even tell that there is a peplum on this one.  Oh well, I still like it.

I hope these quick instructions give you the confidence to make copies of some of your favorite tops too!