Block printed and color blocked...
This is the Georgia Top from new-to-me pattern company, Designer Stitch. Ann from Designer Stitch reached out to me to offer me some of her patterns to try out. Being the pattern junkie that I am, always curious about new designers, I happily accepted.
The Georgia Top and Dress is described as offering "a mix of fabrics and choices with its contrast
yoke and sleeve design. The front yoke can be made in mesh and/or lace – the sleeves in linen, cotton or pleather. With an alternate back panel consisting of a back yoke and an optional centre back pleat the Georgia offers many possibilities as either a dress and/or top."
I love simple, boxy tops, especially with options for mixing and matching fabrics, so Georgia was a no-brainer for me. I opted for the top with the pleated back with the contrasting yoke on both sides.
I was pretty delighted to see that the Designer Stitch patterns go up through a size 26. Hooray for inclusive sizing! I went with a 16 at the bust, 18 at the hip.
The fabric is a super lightweight and fairly loosely woven cotton- almost a gauze. I had two coordinating pieces that I bought at a shop on Arab Street in Singapore last year and I had always planned to put them together in a garment. I figured the Georgia's contrasting yoke was the perfect use of this fabric!
It may look like I cut the top off-grain because the design veers off at an angle, but I swear it's on-grain. It's just that this fabric is Indian block printed cotton and the design itself is not completely straight. It's got a few flaws, too, but I like that about it. Handmade goodness.
I had a leftover piece of black piping in my stash that was exactly the length I needed to highlight the seam between the yoke and the bodice. This helped create a crisper line between the two fabrics. Part of me wishes I had piped the neckline and cuffs, but I also know that would have stiffened them up too much.
I'm really happy with my Georgia top! It's a loose-fitting, swingy top, but there's just enough fit at the bust to keep it flattering. The instructions are thorough, the pattern went together easily... good stuff! I made mine very casual, but I think you could get quite fancy with the Georgia top. On the Designer Stitch website I saw versions with lace, mesh and eyelet yokes, pompom trim highlighting the yoke seam. Lots of possibilities.
I'm looking forward to seeing what Ann at Designer Stitch comes out with next. She seems to be testing and publishing patterns at an astonishing rate, but I understand that many of them were patterns she had already developed and used as part of her sewing and pattern making classes. I've also got a review of her Jenny dress coming on Wednesday at the Curvy Sewing Collective, so look out for that.
Have you tried a Designer Stitch pattern? What did you think?
