Today I’ve got a little more detail on the trio of tops I did for my 6-piece module for #TheGreatModuleSewalong. All three are navy blue-based knit fabrics. The colors for my module ended up being black, cream, navy and dusty pink. These colors just look so crisp and modern to me.

Sew Over It Molly

I’ve been so inspired this year by the Sew Over It: City Break eBook. All the patterns are genius. Lisa looks so perfect in all the pictures and I wanted to recreate at least one of the looks very closely (don’t be afraid Lisa, I’m harmless). I found a fabric pretty close to what’s in the book and made it into the Molly top. It’s definitely my favorite piece in the module. I love the rotated stripe on the lower sleeve!

This was a stripe, so cutting was the hardest part of the whole project. I used a tip I saw somewhere about pinning your stipes in the same place on the top and bottom. This works like a charm to line up the stripes and keep them from moving around.

I just lay the pattern pieces right over the pins and cut it out. I keep all the pins in the center of where my pieces will be so I don’t hit them with the scissors. I’ve heard there’s such a thing as ballpoint pins — I might invest in these just for a technique such as this so I don’t snag my lovely knit fabric.

One thing I realized 90% through the sewing: this fabric has a right-side and a wrong-side! I thought both sides were the same but it turned out the wrong side had a tiny line above and below the stripe. It was a 50-50 chance that I had sewn two of the same sides together. I lost — the front was the wrong side and the back was the right side. Aw shucks.

I invoked the three-foot rule from the Love To Sew podcast. I couldn’t see the tiny lines from three feet away so I left it. C’est la vie.

Grainline Lark

I had already finished a Grainline Morris blazer for my module and was very happy with its clear instructions and helpful sewalong. Grainline’s creator, Jen Beeman, has also been keeping me company during self-isolation 2020 with her daily live Instagram feeds so Grainline was top of mind.

My inspiration was a ready-to-wear tee I’ve owned for years. It has been worn down to its very threads and is now almost completely see-through.

The Lark has the features I love about this old tee: a v-neck and cap sleeves. It also has tons of other variations so I knew I could use the pattern for years and years.  I found the fabric at SewingStudio.com. It’s a gorgeous heavy cotton rib knit in the nearly the same navy as my old favorite, but thankfully much thicker.

I had bought two yards (60+” wide) and when I laid it out, it neatly fit in probably 1/4 yard! I could easily squeeze out at least one other of these in future. Heck, maybe four.

Another bonus: there were only a handful of unusable scraps:

I say “unusable” but I could still stuff these into a Closet Case poof. I sewed everything but the neckline and hems on the serger so it came together really fast.

The neckline turned out a lot thinner than advertised. I think I sewed it at 1/2″ or even 5/8″ when the pattern calls for 1/4″ seam allowance. I’ll just call it “dainty.”

Seamwork Aurora

I’ve made the Seamwork Aurora top once before and it was the source of much frustration. It’s a tank top so I thought it would be an easy first knit project. Well, it was not easy. I did finish it — teeth clenched — and I now actually wear it a lot. I had some stretch velvet scraps leftover from my Morris blazer and thought it would fun to sneak them in something else in the module. I thought of this pattern because the yoke can be two different fabrics.

The yoke lining is this navy blue bird fabric and the outer yoke is the stretch velvet. J’adore! There’s a peek-a-boo of the velvet on the front straps too.

The construction was easier because I’ve done this before. The last time I tried to use Wondertape to hold the folded-over neckline in place. Wonder tape does not turn corners so I had cut lots of little pieces — fail. This time I used washable fabric glue and notched the edge. Worked much better. Then I turned it over and topstitched with a narrow zigzag. I’d love to hear in the comments how other folks would do this!

These tops fill a real gap in my wardrobe for everyday tops I can wear under a jacket. And the patterns will definitely get made again and again. -rp