Popolok's Janet Top - A Pattern of Versatility

I was just granted the opportunity to test the Janet pattern for Popolok Design, a great little pdf pattern company out of Malaysia. Designer Alviana really puts a lot of thought and quality into her designs. This definitely is a shop where you won't find the same old same old!

I love this Janet pattern off the start because there are so many options! 5 neckline and 5 sleeve options gives you a ton of different style shirts, all in one pattern!

Here it is on my little princess, with the puff sleeve and the Peter pan collar! I made size 1, and it fit just wonderfully! No modifications necessary!

She thought it was lots of fun and was happy to wear it all day until... you guessed it... she got it all dirty and wet digging in the garden!

This pattern is definitely not for the beginner, it requires a lot of techniques and a very good hand with the iron. That being said, it is worth the labour, even when you are dumb and cut two left fronts and no right fronts and it takes forever to figure that out. Ha. Ha. :)

It is best suited to light to medium weight fabrics, and the instructions include information on how to fully line (bodice lining is included in general) and also how to add a lace topper over the yoke section.

The pattern is very well written in general with all the terms defined. It might be a bit confusing with all the options to read through, but once you actually get sewing I think its super easy as the end of each step tells you where to go if you aren't doing the part that is shown next. There are lots of color photos too.

Skills required: understitching and topstitching, good ironing skills, lots of gathering, snap insertion or buttonholing. There is no "stitching in the ditch" which is common with collars :) 

You need a good hot iron with steam for this pattern if you're using cotton. 

Materials required:
Lightweight woven fabrics like chambray, poplin, voile, batiste, lawn, dotted swiss etc. Or mediumweight woven fabrics. I used broadcloth for my solids in black and pink, and the pattern is a heavier poly/cotton blend woven (on the heavier side of medium) which was in the stash from a stash-clearout sale where I got 7 garbage bags full of fabric for $40. So in all, my fabric cost was only maybe $2 for this whole shirt!!
Regular thread (I used Gutermann all-purpose)

Snaps or buttons

Fusible interfacing (I always use Pellon)