Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Cowl-necked top in teal

Cowl-necked Knit Top


I've been on a two week sewing/blogging break. I decided that after eight years of owning my sewing machine, that it was well and truly overdue for it's first service. In fact, from memory, I think the first service was supposed to be free and come with a free lesson. I think I missed the boat on that one. Actually, I definitely missed the boat as the store no longer exists. Oh well. 

Despite having no machine, the past two weeks have been extremely productive. I have carefully sorted and edited 11,500 digital family photos taken over the past seven years. Worthwhile? Definitely! Rewarding? Kind of! Mind-numbingly painful and tedious? You betcha! Thank goodness that's over and I can sew once again.

I decided to kick off with another version of my cowl-necked knit top. First made here.  I originally took this pattern from a RTW top I owned. This time, I made it up using an Eileen Fisher rayon/lycra knit I bought from Emma One Sock. 

I used self-binding strips to finish the armholes. I'm not completely happy with the finish but it's OK and definitely wearable. I cut the strips a little shorter than the armhole, which I don't think was really ideal. Stretching the binding to fit, has caused puckering. 

On this version, I added a hemband. I've recently decided these are the way to go. The hemband allows things to have a looser fit, while avoiding the 'oversized shirt look' or the 'tucked-in look'. A nice compromise I think.

Long view

Side view

Back view
Next time, I'll have to shorten the back before adding the hemband as there is a bit of excess fabric pooling at the lower back.

The verdict - A nice casual addition to my wardrobe. Comfy and easy to wear.

I've had a bit of interest shown in this collar from my first version. Last week I drew up a neat version of the pattern and intend to scan it and upload it as a PDF file to share. It should be up by early next week (assuming of course my technologically-challenged mind can work out how to actually do that). Fingers crossed!

9 comments:

  1. Another great top and the colour is fantastic - good luck uploading the PDF - I'd love to get a copy :)

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  2. Utterly gorgeous cowl neck. Does this mean that the pattern piece I traced from my computer monitor should be updated? I haven't actually used it yet, Yay for procrastination!

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  3. Hem band is such a great solution! It's a lovely top and that cowl collar is intriguing (just checked the previous post about it).
    How was your machine after the service? Did you notice a difference?

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  4. Lovely top! You've just reminded me of the 1000s of photos I have to sort - but I'd rather be sewing.

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  5. The hem band is genius. Love your top.

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  6. Gorgeous colour. So jealous that you are making sleeveless tops at this time of year.

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  7. Yay for hem bands! The quickest and most enjoyable way to hem as well as ending up with a good looking result. Looks good and the colour is fab!

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  8. I like the hem band too. Great colour for you and I like your new blonder hair.

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  9. Very cool top-the colour suits you. Re: dealing with photos XS

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