Another (not so) quick cowl top

Manequim Cowl Top

This one is based on another free online pattern. The catch? It’s this pattern! Yup, you’re right, that entire website, complete with plenty of gorgeous patterns, is in Portuguese. And no, my Portuguese isn’t so good. Actualy it’s nonexistent. But seriously, we all know how well I read instructions,anyway, right? And this particular pattern has a two star difficulty rating. “Facil” it says. My Portuguese may suck, but my French is halfway-decent… I know easy when I see it. The size range isn’t great, but it works for me.

Of course, I couldn’t just sew it as is. The pattern as is (not that you can tell based on the photo since the model’s got those crazy-high waisted pants on) has a really wide, blousy bodice. Not my thing. So I pulled out the pattern for my other cowl top, compared, and pivoted until I had what I thought was a reasonable width.

I had a Plan.

I was using more of the same light, ultra-stretchy knit fabric from the first cowl. The upside of this is it was super cheap and I have a ton of it. The downside is that it’s ultra light and ultra-stretchy. Stable it is not. Sewing it actually isn’t even the problem—it’s

Manequim Cowl Top---back

getting it lined up smoothly to cut the pattern. So I really couldn’t tell you if the various places my pieces didn’t match up correspond to the problems in the pattern itself, my changes to the bodice, or my poor cutting. My guess is mostly the last. When I made the first cowl top, I doubled the front. This

Mannequim cowl top

time, I planned to double both, and thus avoid having to bind any edges. And I did it! Aside from a couple of glitches, I managed to sew every single seam on this shirt so it faced the inside, except for about three inches along one edge of the cowl drape, which I finished by hand.

Then I tried it on and had to take each side in by about half an inch. So now the side-seams aren’t nicely finished. But otherwise, it’s great! I’ll let you know how badly it stretches out in the wearing, though… that seems to be the key issue with this fabric.

As to the top itself—it’s nifty. Doesn’t really look like the model’s… I think my fabric is way too different (also my seam along the edge of the cowl really makes it less flippy, more drapy. The cowl part is really big and drapy—cool looking, but I’m still a little nervous about the way it falls. It seems like it will shift around a lot with wearing. I’m actually tempted to make some straps… we’ll see. But here’s some different possibilities for wearing it, which is kinda nifty. If I ever do make it again, I’ll make the body about an inch longer…