Back in December I made Breton-style tops for both my sister and me. For those I used the View A of the Fraser sweatshirt top by Sewaholic. This year I am ‘on a mission’ to make several more Breton-style tops for us which, hopefully, we will be able to wear on our next cruise holiday.
According to Sewaholic the Fraser Sweatshirt is the perfect year-round layering piece! Slip it on over sports bras and knit tops, under jackets or wear it simply on its own. This semi-fitted pullover knit top features set-in sleeves, contrast options, and sleeve variations so you can customise it to best suit your wardrobe. View A has contrast yoke panels, a crew neckline and long sleeves. View B has three-quarter length sleeves. View C features a set-in collar contrast detail and elbow length sleeves. All views create a comfortable fit as you move through your day. This is a great project for beginners who want to develop their garment-making skills with no overlocker required! Banded hems are used to finish the sleeve and body for a professional, clean finish.
For this version I revisited View A of the Fraser pattern but as I had found the points of the contrast panels a little difficult to manage I decided to re-draw the yoke and sleeve headcaps with a more gentle curve.
I wanted to use the Red with White striped Ponte Roma that I bought from the York Fabric Shop and would combine it with the White background floral Ponte Roma bought from an eBay seller.
The alterations to the pattern were the same as before, shortened sleeves, extended body and no cuffs on the sleeves or hem band. Once again I found that I wanted to deepen the neckline front by 1 ½ inches and widen by ½ inch at each side neck point. When pattern matching the stripes it is made much easier by the fact that Ponte is such a stable knit. When I laid out the floral printed fabric I was reminded that the stretch is opposite to the width. I had to be careful when laying out the pattern to be sure the stretch was crosswise on the yokes.
I auditioned a plain Red neckband but decided against it as I felt it was too dramatic a change and broke up the printed yoke. I cut a 2 inch wide neckband from the floral Ponte which I think works well.
This time around the construction was made a lot easier with those gentle curves and although my original sketch shows no contrast sleeve headcaps, as I had drafted them, I decided to use them. The added advantage meant that I used less of the Red striped Ponte and I hope there will be sufficient left to make a short sleeved tee-style top.
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I am very pleased with how this top has worked out and look forward to wearing it with jeans, skirts and even a dungaree dress.
Catherine has already chosen her colour blocking and I have repeated the re-draw of yoke lines on the pattern ready for my next session of cutting out.
Project #12b completed 21st February 2021