What do you think, in or out?

This is not a question about whether or not to leave or stay in the EU but whether my new top looks better tucked in or left out....

At least this is one decision I can make every time I wear it and it won't have any financial or emotional ramifications whichever one I choose. 

I won this remnant of fabric from an eBay auction after bidding purely because I loved the colour and design. This is a slight cautionary tale which you'll all have experienced if you've purchased fabric in this manner. The photo looks gorgeous and the description sounds great BUTTTTT.... when it arrived it felt awful.

Nothing can take away from the experience of actually visiting a fabric shop and touching the fabric to get a good idea of how it will drape as well as the way it feels against your skin. 

This fabric is harsh and almost scratchy as well as being quite sheer and very prone to fraying. However, the colours are just wonderful.

My plan was to come up with a design that got me through this problem and with some plain apricot cotton in my stash I decided to make this simple top with a yoke gathered across the back and shoulders and a mandarin collar. I cut out all the pieces except the sleeves, laying the fabric on the cotton and cutting them out as one. I sewed the yoke and front and back pieces as though they were just a single piece of fabric but I left the sleeves unlined.

Once the sleeves were sewn in I joined the side seams of the body separately so they hang loose. This means I could tuck in the apricot lining fabric but have the outer fabric over the top.

This is a picture of the two separated hems to explain. The outer fabric was a nightmare to sew on its own and frayed at every opportunity. As you can see I serged the edges and then used wonder web to fuse the hem in place before top stitching. This made it much easier to sew and it actually behaved better doing it this way.

The cuffs were lined and interfaced to give some extra body and I added two small buttons and buttonholes using an overlap as this picture shows.

There were no other closures as the mandarin collar and front faced slit sit comfortably without the need for anything else. I faced the slit and sewed it to the lining so it doesn't try to unwrap itself.

I took these photos with artificial light and hoped the camera flash would do a better job than it did but I think you get the idea of what I've made. The close up photos of the cuffs and front slit show a very good likeness to the actual colours.

I think I'm going to look for some fabric in the gray or biscuit colour to make some coordinating trousers but I'll take a scrap of this fabric with me to a real shop...

Overall, despite the fact this isn't as silky to touch as the photos would have you believe I am happy with the end result.

So what do you think, IN or OUT???