 It's reveal day for the summer sew-along I did for McCall's 8255. If you sewed along with me then you know how much fun this top was to sew. I did some sneaky tricks to make things a little easier on myself, construction-wise, which eliminated all the frustrating parts, making this just a really enjoyable thing to sew. I can't wait to tell you all about it, but real quick, if you're new here, hi, I'm Lindsay, I sew all my own clothes and I'm so glad you found me. Be sure to introduce yourself in the comments, tell me your name, where you live, how long you've been sewing, what you want to make, so that I can give you a formal welcome. And for everyone watching, be sure to like this video so YouTube will know it's awesome and suggest it to other people. Videos highlighting my makes and sewing pattern reviews go up just about every Monday. I already have dozens for you to watch if you want to binge, so check out the playlist in the top right corner of your screen. It opens in a new tab, so you will not lose your place here, I promise. All right, let's get into it. As I said, the pattern is McCall's 8255, which is described as a lined princess seam scoop neck top with back separating zipper and length options. Views B and C have a scalloped hem finish, puff long sleeve, and sleeveless options are also included in this pattern. Upon first glance, this top really does seem pretty straightforward, but once you get into it, you realize there's some funky things going on with the zipper and also the lining. When you start to look at the instructions, you'll realize the lining is actually optional, at least in my mind it is. I made the line bodice though because the tool of hem would be nearly impossible without a lining or at least a hem band, like you cannot just turn under that hem. But if you're making the straight hem version, you could totally swap out the lining for a neck facing using the pieces that are provided for the interfacing and then do a simple turn to hem. You can also avoid all of the hand sewing that the instructions have you will have you do by when you go to attach the lining to the zipper. Using the technique that I outlined in episode three of the Sew Along, I've linked it with a time stamp in the description box so you can find that part of the video really easily. Other than those two things though, it's really just a matter of accurate markings for the hem and easing in the princess seams. The rest of the top is really quite basic, very simple construction, and I think you get a lot of bang for your buck with this one too as it comes with four sleeve options so you could truly make one for every season. For fabric, I chose something that was lightweight enough for aligned bodice in the summer. I still wanted it to be breathable but you know I knew it needed to be two layers. So I chose a sheer weight cotton dobby and lined it with the lightest weight cotton I could find at Joanne, which happened to actually just be a muslin. If you are making an unlined straight hem version or you're doing a hem band or something else, feel free to try a slightly weightier fabric like linen. My fabric is linked in the description box. Keep in mind though, it's only 44 inches wide so you have to buy a little bit extra for garments but it was super easy to work with. It barely frayed and behaved really well with all of the curves and gathers and things that this pattern has. I covered fitting quite extensively in the sew along so I'm pretty much just going to refer you to episode one. I've linked that below but I will say that in my final version I think I got all the alterations pretty much spot on except for the length. The tool of hem is a little deceiving and it feels a lot shorter than it is once you sew it up. I would suggest using the inner peaks of the tulips as your finished desired length. For my next version I'll probably lengthen mine by another inch just to give me a little bit more coverage. I really do think this pattern could be a tried and true that I go back to again and again. I have so many ideas for future versions like lengthening it to a dress, eliminating the zipper and doing a shirt back or side panels, and maybe even moving the opening from the back zipper to the front and then doing like a button band. The options for fabric are pretty much endless depending on the hem you choose but with the right construction finishes you could use just about any fabric you want as long as it's woven. If you're interested in a tutorial on some of the alternate options I mentioned let me know. I'm happy to do like a follow up to the Sew Along and show you how to make any of those changes. Just let me know in the comments which one is your favorite and I will pick the most popular one. I've got a ton of links in the description box including the pattern like the link to buy this pattern, my exact fabric, and Sew Along links. I have also linked the Sew Along playlist like if you want to binge the whole Sew Along at once. I have linked that here in the insulate so if you haven't watched it yet click on the bottom right of your screen and it'll take you right there where you can watch all the episodes. There's only four of them but that is going to do it for me today. Thank you so much for watching. I will see you all very soon. Bye!