Top with Gathered Yoke

I am trying to devote one (school) day a week to my pattern drafting.  I am always surprised at how many other activities are competing for my attention on that day.  I thought this gathered top onto a yoke would be a quick draft, but it was a little trickier than I anticipated to get it "just right".

The fabric is a cotton voile from Tessuti.

 
(Do you love my necklace?  My daughter and I had a fimo day recently, so I have a few necklaces in these colours now)

The biggest issue was getting the position of the yoke line right.  I originally wanted it a bit higher, but that lined the yoke seam up with the flat part of the armhole curve, which I thought would be a bit messy, sewing  wise.  I could have gone higher, but that would have left me with quite a skinny yoke, and I wanted a substantial yoke in case I decided to feature a different fabric for the yoke.  So I moved the yoke line down, below the armhole, but not as low as the bust point.

Then I thought it would be good if it matched the back yoke, but I knew I definitely wanted the back gathers higher up than my baby doll, for ease of movement across the back.  I could have curved the back yoke seam up, but decided that I wanted a horizontal seam, in case I wanted to put a lace yoke or similar in the back.  The curved seam will have to wait for another draft.

Here is my final draft (though I may need to address some teensy front neck gaping).

 I have been attempting to declutter lately, but here is a good reason not to throw out my fabric scraps.  I felt like the yoke needed a little stabilising.  A lightweight white fabric seemed to make the yoke look different from the body of the blouse.  I did not have a suitable nude fabric.  In the end I used a silk cotton woven in a tropical print.  An inside view is shown blow.  It seemed to blend with the voile enough not to result in show through to the outside.  I treated it as an interlining, rather than as a lined yoke, and still finished the edges of the armhole and neck with binding.