Style Arc Courtney Top from Leftovers

The Style Arc Courtney Top is a great pattern for trying out some colour blocking. I was rummaging through my fabric stash looking for something suitable, when I came across the left over floral cotton/linen blend from this dress and the white linen left overs from this shirt. I had just enough of both the fabrics to combine the two and create this top.

Style Arc Courtney Top

  
This top has some lovely design features and was fairly quick and relatively easy to construct. There are no darts or closures to worry about and the fit is meant to be loose, so there are no fitting issues to deal with either.

I love the combination of the plain and the busy fabrics. I think the white tones down the busy print and the combination has worked well. I am wearing it here with my purple Colette Mabel skirt which tones in well with the purple flowers in the floral print.

Even in this cotton/linen blend fabric, the shape of the blouse is not too boxy or shapeless. I love the interesting detail that the back yoke and gathers give to the back. I cut a size 12 and made it up with out any alteration to the pattern. It was drafted beautifully and went together easily.

I top stitched all the seams, except the side seams. I like the extra detail it adds to the top and it also keeps the seam allowances lying nice and flat. The arm bands are designed to be turned up like a cuff, but I preferred them left like this. The white arm bands help tie in the front panel and give a nice balance to the garment.

The raw edge at the hem was over locked and turned up and secured with a top stitch. I wanted to preserve as much length as possible. If I was to make this again I would lengthen it a couple of centimetres, especially if I planned to wear it with pants, rather than a skirt. I have a long body and I find a longer top suits my figure better.

The neckband is a length of bias cut linen stitched to the neckline and then cover stitched to finish it off. I have still got my L plates on with my cover stitch machine, but I was pretty pleased with how this turned out. A little bit wobbly on one shoulder, but not too bad.

I am quite pleased with my Courtney Top and very pleased that I was able to create it out of some left over fabrics too. I can see a few more of these in my wardrobe soon.

Happy Sewing

Jean