Vogue V8793 has been in my pattern stash for a number of years. I liked the look of the contrasting fabrics that play so nicely together. But I did know, even when I bought it, that I wouldn’t be using zips on the neckline. I was pretty certain my hair would get tangled up in them, just like necklaces do. So when it came time to making a new top for Winter I reached for this pattern.
Top Pattern Used
Vogue V8793 was my pattern of choice. Size XL was the closest match to my measurements, but I did make a few adjustments, as outlined below.
For reviews of this pattern see: Pattern Review – Vogue V8793
Pattern Adjustments
My bicep measurement was exactly the same as the pattern measurement and I wanted 2cm of ease to make it looser fitting, like the pattern photo. I added 1cm to each side of the Sleeve pattern piece, as well as 1cm to the underarm of the Front and Back pattern pieces.
Fabric
When I saw the blue marle (the darker one) on a visit to the The Fabric Store I really liked the fleck in it (I’m not a real fan of solids for knit tops). On a nearby shelf was a blue and white fine striped fabric that looked like the perfect match. They were both a merino mix and I’ve been wanting to try sewing merino ever since the Fabric Store came to Adelaide (a few years ago now).
I didn’t have Vogue V8793 in mind when buying them but when I was considering what to do with these two fabrics I knew I could use them to compliment one another.
The Blue Marle is 175cm wide, 50% merino, 40% polyester, and 10% hemp. It weighs 150GSM and was knitted in Vietnam. It had a special price of AU$22 a metre because it had small holes throughout. This was clearly labelled, as you can see.
The Blue and White Fine Striped fabric was 152cm wide, 50% cotton, 30% merino, and 20% meryl. I had no idea what meryl is but according to the Friedmans’ website it’s a polyamide/elastane mix with excellent shape recovery, pilling resistance and draws moisture away from the body, making it a favourite for fitness and activewear. It weighs 135GSM and was knitted in New Zealand.
Cutting Out
As mentioned in the Fabric section the dark blue marle was labelled as having holes. On close inspection, I found only two holes in the 1.3 metre length. I marked them with a few pins where the hole was, as well as in the selvedge. While cutting out I was easily able to avoid those holes due to the extra wide fabric width – 175cm!
There are two collar pieces one is taller than the other and they are treated as one when sewn to the neckline. Looking at the photos of the pattern and what was suggested in the instructions I decided to cut the collar so that one side was the dark marle blue and the other was the lighter stripped fabric.
To give a nod to the contrasting neck pieces I used the lighter striped fabric for the cuffs.
Sewing the Top
The back shoulders were stabilised with fusible black 2cm wide edge tape. The seams sewn with a narrow zig-zag and then a 4-thread overlock stitch.
By far the most difficult part was the collar. The outer edge of the both collar pattern pieces were straight and the inner edge (what is sewn to the neckline) was curved, but after sewing the two straight edges together it must have stretched as it ended up having quite the curve. I tried pressing it straight but didn’t have any luck. In hindsight, the zip that was supposed to be used on this seam was providing stabilisation, and as I’d ditched the zip there was no support so the knit just stretched. I should have used the same fusible edge tape that I used to stabilise the back shoulders on the collar straight edge too.
When it came to sewing the two collars onto the neckline I got the two collars mixed up. One of them is shorter in height than the other, and if you look at the finished top below you will see that the longer one is next to my body and the shorter one sits on top. I had them around the other way so the shorter one was against my body. When I tried it on I couldn’t understand why I couldn’t see the shorter one. I took a closer look at the instructions, and the pattern photos and realised my mistake. Bit of unpicking and a resew it all looked as it should.
The hem was finished with a twin needle.
Top Review
I have worn this top quite a lot over the weeks since I finished it and it’s really comfortable. I like how the double collar looks, as well as adding a little bit of extra warmth. It is a bit baggy around the bicep and as you see in the photos there are a lot of drag lines so I will need to look at how to fix this. I do like my sleeves a bit lose but I might need to do a slash and spread adjustment instead of just adding extra width to the underarm seam.
No more holes have appeared in the blue marle fabric so the holes that were there must have been damaged when the fabric was rolled up and wasn’t a flaw in the making of the knit fabric.
Below I’m wearing the Marle Blue Knit Top with my Seamwork Tessa Jeans.
Pattern: Vogue V8793, Size XL | Pattern Review
Main Fabric: 1.3m Blue Marle Knit from The Fabric Store – AU$28.60
Contrast Fabric: 30cm Blue and White Fine Striped Knit from The Fabric Store – AU$6.70
Interfacing: 20cm of 2cm wide Edge Tape (for shoulders) – AU$0.05
Sewing Machine Thread: Rasant 3356 (Navy) – approx AU$0.20
Overlocker Thread: Serafil 120/2 Col 1282 (Charcoal), Woolly Nylon (Black) – approx AU$0.50
Cost of Top: AU$36.05
Sewing Machine Settings on my Memory Craft 3500:
- Sewing Machine Needle: Schmetz Jersey 80
- Seams: Tension of 4.0, Zig Zag (Stitch #11) Width 0.5, Length of 2.0
- Twin Needle: Schmetz Twin Stretch 4.0/75
- Twin Needle Hem: Tension of 4.0, Straight (Stitch #1) Length of 3.0
Overlocker Settings on my Janome 644D:
- Needle: Schmetz Super Stretch HAx1 SP 90
- 4 Thread – 2x Charcoal Serafil in needles, 2x Black Woolly Nylon in loopers
- Thread Tension: 3.0 3.0 6.0 7.0
- Stitch Length: 3.0
- Differential Feed: 1.0
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