This top started with the fabric. A silky viscose knit from France with a digital jungle print that I spotted at Stonemountain and Daughter last year. It was a bit pricey at over $20 a yard (yikes!) so I waited and was rewarded when I found it at 50% in January. Bit risky I know. I figured I’d save it for summer sewing though I did cut into it for a pair of Cloth Habit Lady Shorts…
As soon as warm weather hit I started thinking about the jungle knit. And when I saw a scoop neck muscle tee at Madewell I knew what to make. Last summer I made a few muscle tees based on the Plantain pattern. And wore them a ton. But also wondered about a more flattering neckline…
I pulled out the muscle tee pattern and added the scoop neck from the Plantain. Which means I used the Plantain without sleeves, with a slightly raised scoop neck, the waist/hip curve straightened out, and the whole top shortened. I used bands to finish the neck and armscyes.
And a double needle hem. My husband made a short video of this step if you want to check it out:
Perhaps my favorite thing about this top is the pattern placement. I didn’t have a lot of fabric to work with and wanted to hoard all the scraps. So outside of choosing to put the more varied print on the front there wasn’t much room to make choices. But gosh, I’m so pleased with the way it turned out! And now I want more jungle prints. And palm prints. And basically any sort of tropical leafy fabrics…
Linking up with Gray All Day for Sew it Chic in a Week. Go check it out.
Details: Deer & Doe Plantain, sz 38, finished with narrow sleeve bands and almost completely straightened out the original plantain waist/hip curve, brought the neck in ~1/2″ all around, shortened at least 2″