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Still having less and less knit tops.
I had bought some knit fabrics a while ago and didn’t know what to make of them.
Venado top* testing came at the right time! Look at that collar, isn’t it lovely?
- Venado pattern*
- Suitable knit fabric like this one
- Stretch or knit needle*
- Stretchy fusible interfacing G785*
- Flexible seam tape*
The Venado pattern
The main feature is, undoubtedly, the folded collar alongside the polo placket.
There’s a Full Bust option available (with darts), otherwise the bust is not shaped. The top should hit at high hips and the sizes range from US00 to 40.
Your fabric should be stretchy enough, with good recovery.
You have the option to sew short or long sleeves.
A burgundy Venado
I went with a size 6 for the bust, graded to 8 for waist and hips. Due to the nature of the fabric (wool-type of knit), I chose to sew long sleeves.
No alteration done because I felt lazy at the time.
The collar is not tricky to sew at all. Follow the instructions and placements.
Even with a rather strechy and soft fabric, I had no troubles.
You can skip the buttonholes. I can get my head through the opening without unbuttoning.
Don’t skip the various interfacing placements. It will help in getting a nice polo placket.
The finished length was rather long on me, but it’s perfect with this Karaba mini skirt.
I could have done my usual narrow shoulders adjustment.
Even with such a placket and collar, it was a quick sew.
A project meant for serger and coverlock
Because of the knit nature of the fabric, it needed stretch seams.
The vast majority of this project was sewn with my serger.Topstitching was done with my sewing machine, with a stretch needle and walking foot.
Then came the hems. I have a love-hate relatonship with my coverlock, a Janome 1000CPX. I only own Janome machines, but the 1000 CPX has never been good to me! I did everything I could to troubleshoot: raising the feed dogs (it helped a lot), following masters of coverlock on YT videos (it helped too), but it’s never been consistent enough for me to say “Good, let’s hem with the coverstitch”. And it’s mostly sitting on a shelf.
This time, it behaved well, but I’m the hunt for a new coverstitch and I’d love to buy the Euphoria by Babylock…one day!
2 comments
Hi, I love the top. Did you find the bulk on the centre back seam any problem? I would like to buy the pattern but recently I made a Patina blouse, and was disappointed with the centre back collar seam, as it spoilt the lie of the collar. I can definitely concur with your problems with the Janome machine – I had one and now I have the Euphoria. Amazing, love it, although it is trickier with wrist edge topstitching and I tend now to do the hem before the side seam of the sleeve. Cheers
Joan
I’m finding the center seam helps the collar falls properly, on the contrary. The Euphoria seems to be a great machine!