the Ivy Top

I've been digging through my stash lately. Maybe this will be the year I reduce my stash in a significant way. I do feel a bit guilty looking at those boxes in my closet thinking no one should have so much.

This piece has been languishing. I cannot remember when or where I bought it so it's certainly not precious. And as I looked at it, I became interested in how best to use it and its 30" repeat. It's a rayon jersey in navy blue with a sort-of urban landscape print. Parts of it are skyline and others read stripes or reflections of the skyline. And there is the solid navy part.

After perusing my rather large stash of Sewing Workshop patterns, I came across an older one - the Odette and Ivy tops. I settle on the Ivy top because it has several interesting shapes for positioning the parts of the print.

Very few pattern pieces can be cut double. Even the sleeves are slightly different. This suited my fabric because I knew I'd need to cut out single layers in order to properly position the print. That was fun, truthfully.

I placed the skyline at high bust. Rather than continuing that line across the bicep area of the sleeves, I broke it up using mainly the strips on the sleeves. I also omitted the little angular piece on the left sleeve. So my sleeves, like the back pieces are approximately identical.

The stripes were also handy for a bias trim at the neckline and the sleeve hems. And I liked it enough to place a little square of bias on the back.

I do love stripes on the bias!

There are 3 panels that attach to the bottom of the shirt. I was able to make each a solid color. That's a good spot for a dark solid, I think.

I briefly considered omitting the lower panels but I am glad I added them. You can see in the above picture what the shirt looks like right before the 3 panels are attached at the bottom.It's interesting, but it looks unfinished.

I've made this pattern once before from a black cotton organic knit. It is still in rotation though it got that dusty black look after washing a few times. For some reason, I can't bring myself to dry clean knits unless they are very special.

It was fun to pull this from stash and move it into rotation. I like it with my navy wool pants that are subtly pin-striped. So I'm sure I'll enjoy wearing it.