This top has spent quite a long time brewing in my brain before coming into reality. I really wanted to have another VNA Top for exercising since I loved my others so much, and I’ve had this project near the top of my To Sew queue for so long. But I had so many other projects that had to be done for deadlines, that this just kept getting pushed aside, until finally I had a spare weekend day to just do some Fun Sewing for myself!
Remember my VNA Top pattern I released last summer – the one inspired by a 1930s Vionnet gown? Or to give it the full blurb: This is a pattern for a close-fitting, sleeveless workout top inspired by a 1930s Vionnet evening gown. It features a front V-neck, curved under bust seam, and distinctive angular seaming in back. Neckline and armhole edges are finished with binding, and there are no side seams.
The fabric here is that wonderful New Balance supplex that FabricMart stocked a while back – the prices were so ridiculously cheap that I was nearly in tears until a friend volunteered to “mule” some back in a suitcase for me! I ordered it in the citrine, paprika, and tangerine colourways and it’s just amazing stuff – super soft, stretchy, vivid colours, and just great to exercise in. Sorry to say, it sold out very quickly (as all the good exercise fabrics seem to do, sigh!).
The shorts are these same turquoise Threshold Shorts but the pale green FOE shrunk in the wash over the course of a few months so these looked puckered and rode up as I ran, boo! So I unpicked the matte pale green and replaced it with the more standard shiny FOE in bright (nearly fluorescent) orange instead. And I have another pair of Threshold Shorts back in my workout arsenal again!
The nice thing about this pattern (if I do say so myself!) is that it works equally well as a casualwear top if you make it in a ponte or mid-weight jersey and go up a size. The pattern also includes diagrams to show you how to alter the pieces for a bigger bust, longer length, larger hip, etc – this was the first pattern to include the tips due to the unorthadox seam lines but it’s something I’ve carried on doing for every pattern since, too!
It’s great timing that I finally got to make this up because it’s actually included in the second Sewing Indie Month pattern bundle – on sale now! So you can buy it alongside a bunch of other great indie patterns and save a bit of money while helping out a great charity at the same time!
