Holiday Tops with Simplicity 1323

Happy December!  It's been a busy couple of months since I last posted- taking a trip to Germany and another to Colorado to visit my daughters, so sewing time has been a bit tricky to find!  But, with the cold weather hitting us early, I was inspired to make two tops from wool knits- a red double knit, and a blue single knit jersey (both from Fabric Mart), using the pattern Simplicity 1323.   It's out of print, but there are plenty of copies on Amazon still available if you like the striking style.  

I made view B with the V-neck and 3/4 length sleeves, but I added 1-1/2" to the body length of mine.  On my blue version, I added several inches to the sleeve length to make it a full long sleeve.   I also chose not to hem either of them, as I knew that hemming on the bias would be tricky, and since knits don't fray, it won't matter anyway!  The red double knit has more weight to it and hangs better, in my opinion.

 Here it is without any scarf.  You can see that the neckline is kind of wide.  So, I like to wear mine with scarves.  I didn't have quite a wide enough piece of the red knit left to make the scarf as designed in the pattern, so what I did was make a thinner scarf, but longer.  I also bought a piece of mesh knit and made a coordinating scarf out of it. This gives me tons of options.

I can wear them all together like this above, or just double up the solid one and wear it on the shoulders like below.  Another nice thing about this style- no fitted waist, so you can enjoy all the cookies and worry about your waist in January!!

For the blue top, I didn't have enough fabric to make a matching scarf, but I have plenty of other scarves and necklaces to style it with.  Here it is with some pearls.   I really love wearing wool knits- they are so good at maintaining a constant body temperature.  They aren't easy to find, but Fabric Mart regularly offers them , so snap them up when you can!  If you're not familiar with wool, you don't need to dry clean it, but do be careful about how you care for it.  I plan on only spot cleaning mine with a detergent made for wool.  If I need to wash it, I will hand wash it, as the agitation from a washing machine can cause shrinkage.  Some people might prefer to wash the yardage before sewing to shrink it before cutting out the garment, and I have done that in the past, but I really liked the texture of the wool the way it came, so I decided not to risk changing it.  

If you are worried about smell from not washing the whole garment frequently, according to the National Wool Textile organization:  Wool textiles are naturally odour resistant due to wool's natural fibre properties, which wicks moisture away to that it can never build up the bacteria that cause odour. It's been said that man-made textiles have spent years of research trying to recreate this process, which wool has done totally naturally all along.

If you are interested in learning more about wool, their website has some fascinating information.  Did you know that sleeping in wool pajamas makes you sleep better and longer?  I had no idea, but you can bet I am going to be making some wool knit pajamas soon!!

If it is super chilly, I can wear the tops with a blanket scarf like above.  My favorite silk chiffon scarf looks wonderful with the blue one too.   Silk chiffon is more breathable than polyester chiffon, and is very luxurious to wear.

So, I am all set for both Christmas and Hanukkah parties with my new knit tops.  What will you be wearing at holiday parties this year?  I hope that you have a great holiday season and enjoy sewing something special for yourself or your loved ones! 

Happy Sewing!

Ann