This year's Me Made May (once again) highlighted my startling lack of tops to pair with my many culottes, growing trouser collection and the odd skirt. I struggle with finding appropriate summer tops as I'm fairly self-concious when it comes to strappy things, so when I saw the new Sakura collection from Papercut Patterns, the not-too-revealing Kyoto, with it's quirky ruffles, really excited me! It's also aptly named, as we're jetting off to Japan next month and plan to visit Kyoto while we're there! Here are the two versions I've made so far:

Suggested lay plan...

...vs my alternative lay plan - note I did actually move piece 4 so the grain was the right way

I'm a long time fan of the Papercut Rise/Fall Turtleneck pattern, and the instructions aren't too dissimilar to that - easy to follow and quick to construct. I cut a size Small based on the finished measurements (my actual measurements fall into the Medium), first in the white jersey. I was clearly really confident that this pattern would be a hit when I did my jersey shop, buying white, black and pale pink in one go. It only takes 1.1m (and you could probably squeeze it out of 1m) making it a pretty cheap pattern to sew up! Here's a look at version number two, in a pink jersey mix:

Wearing my pink Kyoto with a new pair of B6178 culottes

I used my machine fitted with a walking foot and stretch needle to sew all the seams and finished raw edges with the overlocker. There's some fairly delicate topstitching to be done around the neck edge and along the hem of the ruffles, but nothing too challenging. The most time consuming bit of the make was gathering the ruffles to fit them into the sleeves, but the whole thing only took a few hours - hence making two in a very short space of time!

I really like the fit of the finished top. It is over-sized in style, so if you want something a bit closer fitting then definitely down size. The neckline on my white version came up quite wide, but I think I may have accidentally stretched it out while making. The neckline on the pink version, made with a slightly more stable knit, sits spot on, so this might just be something to keep an eye on depending on your fabric!
My boyfriend questioned why all of my recent makes have 'clown-features' - with reference to this vintage ruffle shirt - to which I protested that it was most definitely the year of the ruffle/sleeve (back me up on this ladies)! I love the ruffles and I think they add just the right amount of interest to an otherwise plain t-shirt, without being totally over the top (or clown like).

I'll definitely be making the Kyoto again - of course, as I've already bought the fabric in! Both versions actually mark an end to my long time aversion to wearing white/pale colours, and it's quite refreshing - I'm going to have start putting a white wash on..! Will you be making anything from the Sakura collection?

Quick look at the new Papercut Patterns collection

In other jersey sewing news, I recently tried out my very first Burda pattern, the #114 knot dress from the 05/2017 issue or online here. I really liked the tie waist detail and luckily for me, it was the 'sewing lesson' for that month so it had extra instructions and the pattern pieces were shaded in pink to make tracing them off spaghetti junction that bit easier. I made a size 42, which came up really big! I took huge amounts out of the side seams and cut a big chunk off the hem, which has actually changed the fit of the dress completely, but it's definitely 100 times more wearable! I had intended it to only be for holiday, but here I am wearing it during a bit of a heatwave we had here in the UK recently, and I really quite like it :)

Braving Burda

I feel like I might be getting into this sewing with jersey thing! What are your favourite summer patterns for working in stretch fabric?