Hello, hello! I'm so excited to be here today to share in the 2019 Itch to Stitch Blog Tour. If you've read my blog before at all, you'll know that I am a huge fan of Kennis Wong and her designs for
Itch to Stitch*. They consistently fit well, are well drafted, and the instructions are always easy to understand and have loads of details. (Even after sewing for as many years as I have I appreciate the care that is put into the instructions to make things clear!)
Like
last year's tour, I decided to try out a pattern that I'd never made before. I've glanced at the
Carey Top on and off over the last few years, but didn't give it too much notice thinking I'd get to it one of these days. When I suddenly realized that it was suitable for knit or woven fabrics it immediately jumped to the top of my "must make" queue. It's not often you find a pattern that will work with both, so I really wanted to put it to the test and see how things would go.
(Also, how had this totally slipped my notice for so long?!?!)
The Carey Top has endless possibilities besides the fact you can choose between using woven or knit. You could choose to do it all one fabric, or get fancy and use a contrast for the shoulder panel. Kennis suggests in the pattern that you could use a sheer fabric to make a beach coverup or you could lengthen it to make it into a longer tunic or a dress. So many easy options for changing things up!! It's a fairly simple pattern too, consisting of only five pattern pieces - front, back, shoulder panel, neck facing and drawstring. You could even get creative and use ribbon, twill tape or a leather or suede lacing and skip making a drawstring if you wanted.
Without further ado, let me present : The Carey Top - two ways.
For my first version I decided I wanted to try it in a knit, so I dug through my stash and chose to use a lightweight French terry that I purchased last year from the almost local to me,
Fabric Snob. (I'm really, really trying to be good about using stash fabrics as much as possible these days). I went with using the single fabric instead of a contrast. The only change I made to the pattern was my standard addition of 1 1/2" added to the body that I need to do for almost all patterns I make to account for my long torso. For the ties I simply cut thin strips of the french terry then tugged on it slightly to get it to stretch and curl. No need to finish the edges in any sort of way! Such a quick and easy way to do them. The French terry was easy to sew and went together so quickly. This top is the best of everything. Perfect length, soft, cozy, comfy and will be a wardrobe staple for both work and casual!
Of course since my first version was a knit, my second had to be from a woven fabric. I wanted something with a light hand to it, so once again headed back to my fabric stash bins and chose a silky feeling polyester crepe from another Canadian shop, that I'm sure needs no introduction,
Blackbird Fabrics.
I'll admit that I much preferred sewing the French Terry one. Knits are just so darn easy to sew and slippery fabrics? Well, they are definitely not my forte. To be honest, they make me swear. A lot. My fabric wanted to shift and slide all over the place which was driving me batty, but I'm so glad I persevered because I am completely smitten with this version! It feels so comfy, yet dressy and pretty.
I love these two versions of the Carey top so much I've found myself eyeballing my stash bins, scoping out more possibilities. How many days of the week could I wear a different version of Carey before people started noticing, I wonder. Hmmmmm... I may have to put that question to the test. I'm thinking lightweight sweater knits, jerseys, more french terry and more crepes... This pattern is a definite win in my books.
Thanks so much for stopping by here! Before you go though, I have a few last things to tell you about! As a treat for you we have a discount code for today, September 19th on the following patterns! (Check out tomorrow's tour stops too for another special flash sale code on the patterns being featured!)
Use the code
919itsblogtour25 for a 25% discount on the following patterns. (You'll want to hurry! Remember the code is only valid today, September 19th for the next 24 hours from 8am - 8am EST). This is such a great selection of patterns! I've made all but Salamanca, Davina (although I'm thinking that one is going to be going in my cart today to be made in a stretch velvet version for Christmas this year...) and Orono.
Carey
Zamora
Samara
Idyllwild
Orono
Davina
Salamanca
Envigado
We also have two fantastic prize packages to give from our blog tour sponsors! You can enter with the
Rafflecopter Giveaway below!
Prize # 1
So Sew English Fabrics: Prize of $40 Store Credit
Sly Fox Fabrics: $25 Store Credit
Prize #2
Itch to Stitch: 3 PDF patterns of choice
Beautiful Textiles: $100 Store Credit
D&H Fabrics Co: $50 Store Credit
Surge Fabric Shop: $20 Store Credit
Knitpop: $50 Knitcoin Credit
Rafflecopter begins Monday September 16th and will close at 11:59pm ET Sunday, September 22nd. 2 winners (1 per prize package) will be drawn and announced Monday, September 23rd.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
And last but not least, I hope you will be sure to enjoy the rest of the blog tour posts and check out the amazing ITS garments made by these talented sewists!
Here are the Bloggers for the ITS September Spotlight Itch to Stitch Blog Tour
September 16th
September 17th
September 18th
September 19th
September 20th
