Vienna

I have a new addiction.  It's the latest release from Itch to Stitch* that I was fortunate enough to test.  Vienna is a fantastic little pattern.  Like Kennis Wong's Idyllwild tee that I couldn't stop making in the fall, this one has proved to be just as addictive.  No sooner had I finished my first one, I was cutting out a second one.  Fabric for version three is sitting on my table and version four is in the planning stages.  It's like potato chips.  You can't just stop at one.

I absolutely LOVE this top.  Cute, full of options, great size range, easy to whip up in a few hours max; the perfect warm weather sew.  Vienna is designed for a knit body and woven yoke, but I can tell you that lots of the ladies testing the pattern opted to do a completely woven version and they all turned out looking fantastic.  I can also tell you that almost all of us testing immediately jumped into making a second version as soon as the first one was done.

Another perk with this pattern is that you can use smaller cuts of fabric.  My friend sent me a parcel of fabric delights from Japan recently and one of the pieces was a sweet little cotton lawn print.  I adore the fabric.  From a distance it looks like just a floral print.   Pretty enough alright, but then hello!  Who's that peeking out from the flowers?  A polar bear!!!!  How much fun is that?!?! I only had half a metre of my precious polar bear in the flower garden fabric, and wondered what I could do with it.  With a print that fun I knew I wanted to have it in a garment somehow.  Then the testing call came out for Vienna and I knew exactly what I was going to do!  It was the perfect place to showcase it!

My first version used a cotton/spandex blend t-shirt knit for the main body and a cotton plaid for the yoke.

My second version used a drapey bamboo/spandex knit for the main body and cotton lawn for the yoke.

I highly recommend getting your hands on Vienna, which just so happens to be on sale right now for 20% off, and then run, don't walk to your sewing machine and get some fun new shirts in your wardrobe for summer!!