Cozy Cape Cottage

A few weeks ago, the lovely Rachel of Golden Rippy put out a call for bloggers to participate in her very first pattern tour (including a giveaway at the bottom of the post!!) in one of our Facebook groups, and I jumped at the chance. I haven't had the opportunity to sew much for myself in recent years, so I thought this would be the perfect excuse. In addition, I've never sewn with knits before, and, well, no time like the present! In hindsight, I also don't have much experience matching up stripes, so choosing a striped knit (from Joann's) MAY not have been the wisest move. It turned out well enough in the end, but I could still use practice.

This is a great casual top, but I've actually worn it to work as well, dressed up with some black pants. I opted not to add on the bow or flowers for my version, but I plan to make the little girl version as well (the Dalia) and will likely add a little something to that one.

I must have been subliminally influenced to choose something with a little sparkle by the cute cover photo!

Rachel's directions were really clear, and it was easy to lay out the pattern sheets with the translucent numbering and arrows on the sheets. I often have trouble finding tops that are long enough, which is why women's top patterns are appealing to me. I decided to make this one per the pattern, and quite like the length! It's great with jeans, but I could also see making one several inches longer to wear with leggings.

I did my best to keep the fabric from sliding around as I cut the pieces in an effort to match up the stripes, which was moderately successful. Not perfect, but pretty good!

As far as sewing on the stretchy fabric, I played around with many of the stitches and tension, length and stitch width on my machine, which is a basic Brother PS-1000. I've heard things about knits being difficult to sew without a serger, so I was a little worried and tested out some of the stretchier stitches. For the most part though, I ended up just using straight stitching and didn't have much trouble with it. I just made sure to adjust my length and tension enough on a scrap piece of fabric so that I didn't get any bunching or loose threads on the back side.

Overall, the sewing went really smoothly, and adding the trim along the neckline and sleeves was really simple with Rachel's instructions. The only bump I ran into was with the waistband. I got the whole top together, tried it on, and it just wasn't quite snug enough.

I had hoped for it to be tight enough to be able to stay up on my hips. (On the plus side, check out those matching side stripes! Not quite as nice on the shoulder, but oh well.) I must have lost my mind when I took it off, because I made it about 6" shorter! It DEFINITELY didn't need to be taken in that much! I did quite a number pulling on the shirt fabric to get it reattached, that when I ultimately realized I'd made a mistake in taking it in too much, I was worried that I'd stretched it out beyond repair. I cut a new strip for the waistband just an inch and a half shorter than the pattern calls for, and that was just right. Luckily the fabric bounced back after a trip through the wash!

I love this top. It's so comfortable! The drape of the fabric and the little gather at the waist give it enough shape and movement without being tight, which is awesome.

So here are the details if you'd like to make a Delilah Top of your own. The pattern includes:

illustrated instructions
six sizes XXS to XL
2 sleeve lengths
2 embellishment options
printing guide
pattern layout guide
grainlines
28 page PDF pattern download to make the top
fabric yardages for 45″ and 60″ widths
pattern pieces with seam allowances
professionally designed and graded pattern

Want to win the pattern?

Prize Package & Rules

Two winners will each win:

* 2 Patterns of your choice from Golden Rippy

The Contest Rules:

You must be 18 to enter.

You can gain entries by entering the Rafflecopter Prompts.

Giveaway ends: 8/6/14 at midnight PST.

Two winners will be chosen and announced on 8/7/14.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Also be sure to check out the pattern on these other blogs in the next several days!

Monday- July 28

A Vision To Remember www.avisiontoremember.com

Fabulous Home Sewn http://www.fabuloushomesewn.blogspot.ca

Amanda Rose http://madebyamandarose.blogspot.com/

Tuesday- July 29

FriendsStitchedTogether http://friendsstitchedtogether.com/

Cozy Cape Cottage http://cozycapecottage.blogspot.com/

Gracious Threads www.graciousthreads.ca

Wednesday- July 30

GYCT Designs http://www.gyctdesigns.com/

The Sewing Geek http://www.thesewinggeek.com/

Sprouting JubeJube http://sproutingjj.blogspot.ca/