Spring Cleaning a.k.a. Stash Busting

We have been blessed with wonderful weather these past few days. The temperature outside made me think of spring cleaning. What better way to kick it off than by going through my boxes of fabric stashes and whipping up some tops for the forthcoming warmer season. 

So I started with my box labeled "knitwear" and took out this ten-year old printed jersey. I have been saving this for a DVF style wrap dress but all the patterns I checked required more yardage than I had. So I settled for a top and used Christine Jonson #426 pattern.

I made a muslin out of some leftover rayon jersey and decided I needed to do the following pattern changes:

1) The neckline was too deep for my taste so I raised it up by grading from XS (the size I used) to Medium along both right and left front necklines.

2) The fit was also too snug at the back. So I graded from XS to S at the side and back seams. 

The pattern provided for two options, a shirred top and a princess wrap top. I opted for the latter. The print is quite busy so it's hard to see the shirring on the left side. 

Once fitting issues were resolved, this pattern was a quick and easy project. Just be careful though when laying out pieces #12 and 13 (right and left front pieces). Make sure to lay the printed side of the pattern facing up over the right side of the fabric otherwise you will end up with a pair of wrongly oriented pieces!