Skipper Top

One of my favourite patterns released this year was the Seafarer top by Sew Much Ado. I may have become a little obsessed with this pattern. It's a little embarrasing to reveal how many of these I have made in the past couple of months (some have been gifts), so I wont reveal the exact number. Let's just say it may or may not be upwards of 10.

Anyway, I follow Sew Much Ado on Instagram so I was stoked to see that she was developing a mini seafarer top for girls. It is called the skipper top and I was lucky enough to test the pattern for her. I actually tested a size 7, but will do that post a little later, I just want to get a few better shots now that the weather is warming up (yea!!). 

Zoe has almost as many of these tops as me now. It is such a fast and easy sew (and by fast and easy, I am talking 20 mins if you can manage to do it uninterrupted, which has not been the case for me lately. Grrr.) and produces a super cute top.

It comes with the option of either a band on the neckline or just a simple self faced edge. There are some great tips for how to do the neckline without stretching it, which is probably the most problematic thing about sewing with knits, especially with beginners. With Abby's tips, you won't have any of these problems.

You can then go on and choose to either turn the sleeves under and hem them, or put a band on them. I like both versions. Bands are great for this sort of in between weather we will have for the next month or two, it makes it easy to slip a cardigan or jacket over the top without the sleeve bunching up, which already seems to frustrate Zoe. Yes I can see that there is going to be some fun times ahead in the next couple of years!

The bottom also comes with a couple of different hemming options. I like them both and can't decide which I prefer.

And you can either go with a normal pocket, or an adorable heart shaped pocket which girls everywhere will love. You can also try keeping the shirt plain and adding other embelishments! It's up to you.

And my favourite feature of the pattern - a dolman sleeve. For those of you who don't know what this is, it is where the sleeve is an extension of the front and backpieces, so you don't have to set in a sleeve. I love this feature

Zoe is wearing the 18 months size shirt in these shots. She has been growing so quickly of late and is starting to fit into some very small size 2's, so the next few I make her I will size up. She is so busy all the time at the moment and so hard on her clothes as she follows her brothers everywhere that I can only make them last so long anyway. She is still so small that she gets shirts most of the time out of my offcuts (yes we do have a few matching shirts), and I love using up all those last scraps. I used to hate throwing those offcuts out.

Skipper tops are a stable part of her wardrobe at the moment, and will continue to be over the next couple of months while it really warms up. And if you heading into winter, don't despair. It is so easy to just add a bit of fabric to the sleeve to make it long sleeved.

I have to admit, I buy alot of patterns when quite a few of them I could probably figure out for myself. But truth be told - I can't be bothered. If someone is going to go to the time and effort to design a wonderful pattern and get the fit right for me (for not just one size, but multiple sizes), I would much rather buy it than spend the time figuring it out and wasting fabric myself. There are a few shonky ones out there, but this is certainly not one of them. Head on over to the Sew Much Ado page and buy it!. Its perfect for beginners through to advanced sewers and is easily worth the money. I always have people tell me that they brought a sewing machine and then ask me to teach them to sew. It always makes me laugh to hear this because firstly - sewing is a skill that cannot be taught quickly, and secondly - I have three children and NEVER get uninterrupted sewing time, so I don't get how someone possibly thinks I have endless hours to teach them how to sew. This pattern is perfect for someone who wants to learn to sew knit tops for that special little lady in their life. The instructions are so clear that I think it would be hard to go wrong. 

I know I will be pulling this pattern out for Zoe over and over again. It may even come dangerously close to being my most used pattern as the years go by.

Thanks Abby for having me test and for producing such a great pattern. I would have bought it anyway!!

 Marnie