Embroidered Colette Sorbetto top and Kreative Kiwi machine embroidery

I bought a lovely machine embroidery pattern that is in 2 different colours. From looking at pinterest I knew I wanted a white top with black at the bottom of the top, a black centre band and neck and black edged piped sleeves.   But couldn't find a pattern that was colour blocked the way I wanted it.  Well Colette have re-released their freebie Sorbetto design, and the email saying this arrived just at the right time.  I knew I could adapt their pattern to suit what I wanted, after I'd made their previous version about 4 times last year.  The pattern already has a centre front pleat and the neckline is finished with bias binding.
Here is my finished top.

The top is cotton poplin from Spotlight.

To create the colour block I made the following changes.

• Made a separate pattern piece for the bottom 5 inches for the front and back pieces
• For the front, instead of cutting on the fold I cut 2 separate pieces, cutting before the pleat line but adding in the seam allowance
• Cut the pleat separately in the black fabric, adding seam allowances.
• Left the sleeve length as per the pattern, then made a new pattern piece to create 3" cuffs, 
• Made my own piping for the sleeves, and bias binding for the neckline

For the sewing I then:

• Sewed the bottom front and back fabric to the top front and back
• Did the embroidery
• Sewed the front pieces to the pleat
• Created cuffs by sewing piping to the outer edge and to where it joins the sleeve
• Then sewed as per the pattern, ensuring the neck binding was folded to the outside, not the inside.

I'm loving doing machine embroidery.   This weekend has been busy making items from Kreative Kiwi.

This is their swirly placemat, it is their large version for 8x10 hoops, creating a 15" placemat.

And I made these coasters, which are freebies on their site.  An Easter bunny and 2 kiwis with koru.