Itch to Stitch Carey Top in a ditsy floral jersey

Happy birthday to Itch to Stitch! Kennis contacted me to ask me if I would like to participate in the birthday tour, & whilst I said yes, I went to check out what has been happening over at Itch to Stitch and was pretty impressed with the pattern collection that she has grown in the last year. (10 patterns from shorts & culottes to dresses!)

As part of the tour, Kennis has arranged for various bloggers to make one of her patterns up – but as a hack. And there are also giveaways – you get a chance to win some prizes. Kennis has got 7 designers to give away their patterns and 7 product sponsors to give away their products. She will feature 1 designer per day on her site, and one lucky winner will get 2 patterns from that designer. So make sure you check Itch to Stitch out between the 8th to the 14th October. Check out more information towards the end of this post …..

So what did i chose to make? And what kind of hack did I come up with? Bearing in mind I did not get this sewn before my move ?

Well I chose the Carey top. I think I do have a thing for slouchy tees after all!! This is a batwing top with a nice scooped neckline that can be made in a knit or a woven. It has sleeve panels and drawstrings to ruche the sleeves up. I opted for knit and bought some of this luscious delores viscose jersey from Fabric Godmother. Oh it is so soft & so drapey, and the florals are soooo pretty.

Another slouchy top!

So to make mine a hack I decided to do something other than use a contrast lace in the sleeve insert- as that is to me, just a design option. (But it had been my first thought! hahaha) I decided to leave out the drawstrings altogther and to incorporate piping (or faux piping) instead. I used Fold Over Elastic (FOE) in hot pink as my piping – it seemed the way to go. It did involve a little thought however & an additional step to the sleeve sewing process. This is what I did if you are interested. (Sorry no pictures, I am ‘camping’ remember & haven’t the usual space for my sewing paraphernalia ..)

So I folded the FOE in half & then pinned it to the seamline of each shoulder seam on the front and back bodice pieces. I stretched the FOE so that it was 4 or 5cm shorter than the actual shoulder seam because 1. the elastic needs a bit of tension otherwise it has a tendency to wrinkle & 2. If there was a ruched effect that too would be OK because this top is designed for ruching. I reckon you could stretch the elastic even more & it would replicate the drawstring, don’t you think. And the FOE was pinned so that an even amount would show to form the piping.

Once I had machine basted the FOE to the seamline I could attach the sleeve panels. I sewed the shoulder seams with the bodice piece on top so that I could follow the basting stitches & sew the piping at the right distance.

And I think it has worked out nicely! A bit sporty, don’t you think?!

I followed the instructions for the Carey top for the most part, but did sew the neck band to the outside as a deliberate design detail- I liked the idea that it would be shown this way.

For info I have sewn this on my regular machine with a narrow zig zag for the seams and a three step zig zag for the hems.

Looking at the neckline inside too

But due to the order of sewing the seams (eg hems are sewn before side seams) – I did sew a few lines of stitches at the hem edges to keep the seams open but not showing seam allowances at the hem edges. (Are you still with me?!)

What do you think? Maybe the sleeves are longer than when ruched & it’s a very roomy batwing, but it is sooo comfy. Do you think this qualifies as a ‘hack’?

I was provided the Carey top pattern at no cost in exchange for taking part in this birthday tour, and enjoyed making it and now wearing it- it so suits my casual working at home wardrobe. I have started the Lindy petal skirt (which is free peeps!) & am also attempting to add some piping – but not FOE this time. I will of course keep you posted :-)