Imaginesque: Free Top Sewing Pattern, Long Overdue...

My totally unflattering
drawing of this top

First up, a big thank you to Kathleen Fasanella, of Fashion Incubator, for kindly allowing me to use her wonderful centered zip method in the sewing instructions.
A big thank you also to the ladies of Crafterhours, for their lovely all-in-one facings tutorial.

This has taken me much, much longer than I anticipated, but better late than never I guess...
The pattern is available in 4 sizes: 36, 38, 40 and 42. Apparently sizes aren't as standardised as I thought, so it was really difficult to find what the UK and US sizes are for these, but here are the bust measurements I used:

size 36: 84cm + 6cm ease = 90cm (33.07 + 2.4 = 35.47 inches)
size 38: 88cm + 6cm ease = 94cm (34.65 + 2.4 = 37.05 inches)
size 40: 92cm + 6cm ease = 98cm (36.22 + 2.4 = 38.62 inches)
size 42: 96cm + 6cm ease = 102cm (37.8 + 2.4 = 40.2 inches)

The top measures roughly 25cm (9.8 inches) from the waist down.

The pattern uses seam allowances that are in centimetres, but the pattern has a printable sewing machine gauge that can be attached to your throat plate. I hope that will help :)

Back and front of the top

The first thing (and probably not the last...) I have to apologise for is the use of notch markings (or lack there of). I had a hard time figuring out what the proper placement would be, so I placed lines on each and every corner and sticky-out bit.

I have made an example of where I think they might go, but be careful and use it at your own risk... ;)

The red lines indicate where I think the snip marks might go

Please click the "read more" link to... erm, well, read more...

You have the option to make this top with facings or with bias tape, I made the facings into separate PDF's, which won't affect the amount of paper you'll need negatively though.
You'll find how much bias tape to use in the sewing instructions.
The facing pieces have been drafted slighty smaller at the neckline and armhole than the outside of the top, this should help prevent them from peeking out after sewing.
Also please note that the back neck facings do not have a seam allowance at the centre back!
This allows them to be sewn the way Kathleen Fasanella describes in her centered zip tutorial.

I hope you'll find the sewing instructions clear enough, feel free to leave a question in the comments section should you have one :)
If you prefer not to print out the instructions and just want to read them on your computer screen, the easiest way is to right-click the image and open it in a new window/tab page.