I feel like I made this top so long ago, but the delay in showing it to you really wasn’t my fault! First it got delayed for a week while I went and bought more grey topstitching thread for the shoulder bands (and then immediately afterwards I found my other spool inside the case of my vintage hand crank Singer machine! Isn’t that always the way??), and then I had another week delay in taking photos while we waited for a break in the awful weather (mid-50sF and rainy for the past week, guh).
But cast your mind back with me and you’ll recall that I chose Lekala 4020, only I opted to create echoing sleeve bands on the back to decrease the “coffin back” look:
I’ve got full instructions on this pattern alteration and my order of construction coming shortly (honestly, they’re ready to go – I made the wise decision to write them right after making mine), so if you like the design and you’re roughly a Burda size 44, you may want to snap up this pattern while size 44s are free on Lekala’s site for another few days….
I made this top using some more offcuts of silver silk jersey, either leftover from Gez’s bridesmaid dress or from my sister-in-law’s LMB tunic, I’m not entirely sure which. But this stuff is so lush and drapey and easy to wear that I just can’t bear to let a single scrap go to waste! And the cowl neck here definitely benefits from a nice, drapey fabric, too.
(Is it creepy to tell you that I’m wearing my foam cup purple hearts bra in these photos?)
I’m wearing this with my grey leather pencil skirt here (which I wear all the time!), and some really cool blocked Falke tights. You may have noticed that I have a serious tights addiction…
Here’s some views of the back and my added shoulder bands…
…and some detail shots of the front, though you still can’t see my topstitching very well. I think this top would look pretty cool with contrast bands, too.
While we nearly always do our photoshoots on the floating gardens that make up our moorings, we hardly ever get such nice shots of our boat, Hendrik, in the photos. But this time around, we thought the purple flowers made a nice backdrop and James had a good line of sight (across a 3-foot water gap), so you get a chance to see the “bundle of debt and DIY joy” we call home, too.
Stay tuned for instructions on making your own version of this top, which should be pretty helpful considering the instructions for this particular pattern are only offered in Russian! UPDATE: Instructions are here!
Oh and has anyone else noticed that Jalie patterns have released a FREE iPhone app? And it’s excellent! (oh please, Burda, tell me you’re listening to this??)