Another pattern that I made a while ago but am just getting around to posting (yes, yes, I know there are a a lot of those). This is the Threadbear Garments Taos Top. I made this using the leftover ponte from my Neenah dress. And let me tell you this top is awesome for using up weird shaped pieces leftover from other projects. Check out how I Tetris’d those pieces in there and used up just about every last bit of that ponte:
Yeah, super proud because I hate having leftover fabric. It feels so wasteful. The pattern itself is awesome. I have a hard time get a photo on myself where it doesn’t have weird drag lines, but I think that’s because of how I’m trying to stand because it hangs really nicely in real life. It’s a nice flattering shape. Looks polished but is also super comfy.
All the pieces went together like a well made puzzle. I did have to piece the neck since I just barely made this work out of the fabric I had. You can see I have side seams when the actual pattern just has a single seam at the back. But I think the matching side seams look nice. I did have to do some math to figure out where to put the seam since the front is a hair longer than the back. But I made it work.
Also very happy with the armholes. The binding lays nicely flat against me. A combination of well drafted, good fabric choice and I think I’m getting better at them. But I hate when it flares out under the arm and this one doesn’t 😀
And for the hem, I ended up using my normal machine rather than my coverstitch. I couldn’t figure out how to do a corner. Well, not entirely true. I tried it and it looked like garbage and I liked the top so I didn’t want to screw it up. Since the ponte is pretty stable I wasn’t too worried about stretch so I used my normal sewing machine and got the clean look I wanted.
Overall, I’m so happy with how this top turned out. I also love that it just happens to coordinate amazingly with this Elhoffer Design wizard school cardigan so I can be comfy, coordinated and geeky all at once.
