Thursday 4 August 2016

Gable

I recently test sewed the Gable Top for Jennifer Lauren Handmade.  Unsurprisingly, Jen gives a better decription of the pattern than I can:


With a classic 50s-inspired slash neckline, long or short sleeves and a long-line body for extra comfort, The Gable Top will become your new favourite go-to knit top pattern. Gable is perfect for wearing all year round — layer with dresses and cardigans or wear it on its own with 3/4 skinny jeans or a high-waisted skirt à la Audrey. Gable is not only a stylish weekend basic but can be easily dressed up and added to your office outfit rotation. Made with comfy stretch knit, Gable is a quick and easy sew that doesn’t use much fabric
and turns out perfectly every time.


I used some heavy tee shirt weight fabric for my first go at this pattern, purchased at the very affordable Rolls & Rems on Seven Sisters Road in Islington in 2 shades of pink, for a casual version of the tee.  The fabric seems to have pretty good recovery and stretch – and Jen has laid out a good deal of information about how to choose the right kind of knit fabric in the pattern, and in her blog posts about another pattern she has published that also uses knit fabric.

The pattern only takes 3 pieces – front, back and sleeve.  My favourite aspect is that there is no neckline binding, which is probably my least favourite part of sewing with knits because I never know how long to make it, or how much to stretch it to get it to fit the neckline.  Do let me know if you have any suggestions on this!


I carefully cut the pattern to match the stripes – I did so by ensuring that the underarm corner on the pattern ended at the same stripe on the front and back.  The weight of the fabric meant that it was relatively easy to sew and maintain the stripe matching.  I did not make any effort to match the stripes on the sleeve, and quite frankly I’m not sure how I would achieve that!

Sewing the neckline was a bit tricky – though it’s difficult to know how low to place it (though there is only a range of about 1.5cm) without trying it on with the side seams finished.  In the future I will sew down the neckline before I attach the sleeves. 


I find the top much more flattering than I expected, though I hemmed it quite a bit shorter than the pattern suggests, as I think that creates a nicer line on my body. 

Changes for a future version
  1. Less close fitting through the waist, though not by much.  I think I will take away most of the hourglass shaping as the top currently has negative ease on my waist, and I would prefer closer to zero ease.  
  2. Slightly less wide across the shoulders - probably about 1cm on either side 
  3. Try to bring the neck down lower - apparently other testers managed this, but I didn't even try!

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