Knits that Fit #6: Reviewed: "Nora" Top (Ottobre 2010-5-1)

Finished top: Ottobre 2010-5-1 ("Nora") top in blue floral jersey

This was such an easy and quick project. I actually timed how long it took me to make, not including tracing the pattern, and it was 1 hour and 26 minutes in total. :D

Here's my pattern review (also here on PR), plus some extra notes at the end:

Side view of Ottobre 2010-5-1

Pattern Description: Knit top with yoke, cuff variation and rose embellishment (for cuff variation see Ottobre 05-2010-04, which is the same pattern but with the sleeve gathered into a long cuff).

Pattern Sizing: Ottobre sizes 34-52. I should have made a size 44 to actually fit me, but made a size 48 because I wanted a very relaxed fit as I intended to use this as a top layer around the house. I should probably have only sized up 1 size instead of 2.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes, although I omitted the rose embellishment.

Were the instructions easy to follow? Yes, extremely easy. Ottobre instructions are terse but effective. In this case the instructions recommend sewing in the sleeves on the flat, which I very much appreciated!

Yoke detail

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I was attracted to this pattern by the yoke detail. On this particular top I made it yoke and body of the same fabric, but I'd really like to make this top with a contrast yoke for a bit of interest. This was incredibly quick to make as well. Apart from tracing the pattern (which didn't take long either) I spent less than 1.5 hours making this top, and I am a slow beginner.

Fabric Used: A cotton jersey with a blue floral print. To be honest, I wouldn't be seen dead in public in this print as it's not at all to my taste. However, this was intended as a wearable muslin/lounging around the house top and I thought it was a good use of the fabric.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: I did not interface the yoke or facing as suggested. This fabric is actually a fairly hefty cotton jersey and I didn't think it needed additional interfacing. As it turned out, I was totally right as the two layers of the yoke are quite substantial enough. I used stay tape rather than interfacing to stabilize the shoulder seams and stay stitched the neckline and yoke pieces. I lengthened the top by 6cm and the sleeves by 3cm to accommodate my height. This is my usual length adjustment, but I actually failed to measure the sleeves before I adjusted them and probably didn't need the 3cm adjustment. I also left off the little rose embellishment.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? I will definitely sew this one again, although probably in my actual size next time. If you have this magazine already and want a quick project, I highly recommend it.

Conclusion: Simple knit top with yoke detail for a bit of interest, super fast and easy to make.

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Extra Notes:

Cost: This one is cheap and cheerful. I used 1.5m of this blue floral jersey at £2.50/m including p&p. That, plus about 10% overheads for thread etc means this comes in at around £4 for the top in total. I was left with a 50cm piece of the blue floral, not enough for a top but more than enough for e.g. constrast short sleeves and neckband on another tee.

Nitpickery:

+ Another big confidence boost for using the overlocker and making something quickly and easily. I can see why people get hooked on making knits since my woven projects aren't nearly as successful (more about that tomorrow!).

+ First time using stay taping and it worked brilliantly. Also, glad I stay stitched the neckline.

- I wish I had made it one size smaller as it's very big. I know what I was thinking when I made it, but it still wasn't very bright of me.

- I needed to swap out my needle on my sewing machine before I sewed the back facing. I was using a heavier needle to top-stitch through the various layers of the yoke and just went on to sew the back facing down, resulting in skipped stitches. A tiny but annoying error!