Resizing project - Gap casual top - part 1

I came in the possession of twin Gap crop tops. One red one grey. Evidently too big.

The shoulders are too wide, the top is too wide, and the sleeves are long.

By now, I got pretty good at this. Learning about making slopers was also invaluable. I am not using a sloper for this project, but making slopers involve extensive fitting. If one can fit a shell bodice, one can fit a knit top. It's actually a lot simpler. When resizing garments, the key is to take it one step at a time. Do an alteration, try it on, see what else needs fixing.

I started by cutting the sleeves away at the shoulder seams. I did not bother with seam ripping as I know I will have plenty of seam allowance when I shrink the garment.

I started by sewing straight down the side seams to the desired width. Couple notes on technique:

1) Get ball point needles for knits. This was my first time sewing with a ball point needle. I don't know what made me think that it was OK to sew knits with an all purpose needle. 

2) Set the tension carefully

3) At the bottom hem, seam rip a cm or so on either side of where the new row of stitching will land. Finish the side seam, then fold the hem and hand stitch in place

4) Pro finish of the side seam: trim away excess fabric, secure with an overhang stitch, then top stitch, folding the seam allowance toward the back of the garment. This is how I found the side seam finished on this higher end garment. See for instance "Topstitching on one side of the seam line" on this excellent sewing blog.

First fitting: 

The sides are good, there are weird folds at the shoulders. The solution, as I learned from making my bodice sloper is to modify the slope at the shoulder. Pull up the armhole at the shoulder seam until the fold goes away. Pin in place and sew.

Second fitting

The shell is done.

But now we have a problem: the sleeves no longer fit the armhole

I cut the sleeve seam for a few centimeters so I could unfold the sleeve cap, at least a little. I pinned the center of the sleeve cap to the shoulder seam then worked my way around. That process allowed me to identify that I needed to remove fabric from the sleeve on each side of the sleeve seam. Then it got late and I had to stop for the day.