Stashbusting Sewalong: June theme "Stretch fabrics" - Long sleeve shirt

I don't really know if I have enough to say about this top to warrant it's own blog post, but I didn't have any photos ready when I posted about my Moto Jacket, so here is my new long sleeve rib knit top.

 

When I finished up my Moto Jacket, I packed everything away, and even used the rest of that day to clean up my studio, managing a rare feat - to clear off my sewing desk. When I walked into my studio the next day, I was confronted not by half finished projects lying all over the place, but literally, a clean slate. What's a girl to do? Well, dig out the rest of the fabric that you just put away of course.

The rib knit fabric that I used was a length of 3.1m that I bought earlier in the year from the Fabric Cave. I only used up 1.4m of it for the sleeves and lining of my jacket, so still had quite a bit left. I had been thinking that I should make some kind of long sleeved top or jumper from it, so I dove right in and made one.

I think I may have been influenced to make this by the tutorial that I read over breakfast from Tasia of Sewaholic Patterns, demonstrating a V-neck band on the Renfrew top. Despite having just read it however, that didn't stop me from doing my own V-neck band wrong twice before my brain clicked into gear so I could do it the right way. You probably can't make out from the photos, but I didn't bother trying to line up the stripes on my band. The rib is so close together that I figured no one would ever notice. Until I just pointed it out to you of course.

I used a self drafted pattern that I've used and altered many times before. I added 1cm into the width of my pattern pieces for both the front and the back, so a total of 4cm extra to what I have used with this pattern in the past. I had hoped that this would give me a little extra room to move if I wanted to use this as a layering piece. Alas, as this fabric doesn't have as much stretch in it, as, say a merino knit (which I have used with this pattern in the past), it is still a little snug, so wearing it just as a top will have to do.

This was quite a quick make, the longest time I spent on anything was fixing up the back of the skipped stitches from my coverstitching, which feature on the wrists, hem and neckline.

I managed to use up another 90cm of this fabric, but somehow there's still another 80cm left. Maybe you'll see it on the trim for something else in the future.