Bamboo Jersey Anegada Top and Giveaway!

One of my sewing goals for 2018 is to try out some new independent sewing pattern companies. Its very easy when you find a company you get along with, both in terms of fit and instructions, to stick with them. When you've got limited sewing time you don't want to risk wasting any of it on a project which might not turn out so well. Or have to spend precious hours fiddling with fit and new construction methods when you can fall back on the familiar, and the security of sizing you already have confidence in. But I'm keen to push my skills this year and try some new techniques and styles. The first of these ventures into the unknown is the Boat Neck Anegada Top from Halfmoon Atelier which Meghann very kindly sent me a copy of to review.

I have actually tried out a Halfmoon pattern previously (the Ballet Top Delpy) but I made a terrible fabric choice and never shared it. I sewed it up when I was really stressed and overwhelmed by work last year and decided squeezing in a sewing project would make me feel better. Of course trying to tackle a new pattern, in limited time and with a fabric that frayed horrendously pretty much as soon as you looked at it didn't turn out so well. Now I'm in a much better headspace and have some more leisurely sewing time on my hands it was time to try another Halfmoon Atelier pattern and I'm happy to report a much more enjoyable sewing experience and a successful outcome. Perhaps it is time to give Delpy another go!

I think this design would work in a wide variety of knit fabrics and each would give you quite a different outcome. My top is made up in this beautiful bamboo jersey from which is also available in two further colour-ways. Offset Warehouse are a social business that stock eco fabrics and haberdashery. They focus on fairly sourcing products from all over the globe that benefit the planet and the people who make and handle them. I've been aware of Offset for a little while now but this is actually the first time I have sewn with any of their fabrics. For some reason I had presumed that as sourcing ethically produced fabrics must be really tricky their handpicked range would be quite limited but after checking out the website I'm kind of blown away by the variety. In particular the stretch and sportswear sections as I've always found it difficult to hunt down good quality knits in wearable contemporary prints. I'm absolutely delighted to discover this new treasure trove and had a really hard time whittling down a choice. I'm very taken with their organic cotton jersey stripes in particular.

Halfmoon Atelier and Offset Warehouse are a perfect pairing with their focus on sustainable fashion. Meghann's ethos is to live, design and sew simply, creating well made wardrobes of foundation pieces to help us in that. I've been seeing a lot on social media lately about our community culling their wardrobes and trying to make more careful choices in their sewing so I'm sure this will resonate with a lot of you! If sustainable sewing and working with fair trade fabrics is of interest to you Meghann has a great list of ethical fabric suppliers on her site. She's really opened my eyes to how achievable making your wardrobe and sewing more ethically friendly can be.

I chose to make view A of the pattern with the cowl neck and cuff & hem bands as I thought the cowl would best suit the drape of my jersey. Bamboo is quite a slinky, slippery knit with a bit of weight to it so won't work for a style which needs structure or volume; it will just collapse in on itself. I think the best way to describe it is moving like water! I have generally found bamboo jersey to be better suited to a slouchy style like this than a close fitting top as it can be quite clingy. I used it to make an Agnes Top a couple of years back and felt quite self conscious in that because it pings back on itself so tightly. That sounds kind of negative but actually that shows the excellent recovery it has! It is silky smooth to the touch and the natural fibres make it breathable so is just lovely to wear. I'm hoping to use my leftovers for the exterior layer of a second Pneuma Tank as I think the weight and drape is perfect for that.

I cut a size 4 which was pretty much spot on my measurements although I was concerned about there being what seemed like a huge amount of ease around the waist. I didn't want to feel like I had too much fabric around my middle or to look too boxy. In actual fact its the ideal width in this area. I could probably do with a fraction more room around the bust (my clingy fabric choice probably isn't helping here) but it is just the right amount of snug around the hip. If you're not cutting your bands on the bias and are making one of the smaller sizes you could definitely get this out of one metre of 150cm wide fabric. If cutting on the bias I'd recommend giving yourself 1.25m as that waistband pattern piece is quite large. View B you could get out of 1m no matter what you decide to do with the neckband.

Talking about cutting bands on the bias in a jersey might be confusing you there and I must admit I was a little confused when I first spotted that on the pattern pieces. But it means that you can get away with using something like a sweat-shirting which doesn't have as much stretch as you might need around the hip. The pattern suggests cutting your neck, hem and cuff bands across the grain if your fabric has more than 50% stretch and on the bias if less than. I love this attention to detail and proof that real thought has gone into the pattern. The bamboo jersey is incredibly stretchy but I opted to cut my pieces on the bias anyway as I liked the idea of the dash design being on the cross in these areas to contrast with the main body. Kind of like Meghann has in her striped samples.

Another part of the instructions which baffled me at first was the finishing of the cowl neck. You turn the raw edge over twice towards the right side of the fabric and only secure it in place at the ends where it runs into the armhole. The instructions say that the fabric will naturally roll over. I'm sure in some fabrics this would happen, particularly something a little softer like a cotton jersey or terry but my bamboo did not naturally want to behave. That great recovery and 'ping back' was not working in my favour! It also probably didn't help that I finished the raw edge on the overlocker as suggested in the instructions as this can sometimes prevent edges from curling; usually a good thing! I wasn't keen on my overlocking showing which it was as the jersey didn't want to roll right over so ended up topstitching the edge down. It looks like a binding now and I made a bit of a feature out of it by using a pink thread that matches the dashes in the fabric. If making this view I would recommend giving some thought to what the reverse of your fabric looks like as it will show and also don't cut the centre back neckline notch as that is only required for view B and might be visible in the cowl version.

There was a lot I liked about the instructions for this pattern. The clear layout makes it really easy to follow and they are packed with tips and detailed construction information. A beginner could quite confidently tackle this pattern I would imagine as there is plenty of advice for working with knit fabrics. What I really liked was the brief summary instructions at the back of the booklet which break the construction down in quick bullet points so if you're a more experienced sewer or it is your second time making the pattern you can just refer to that. The fact that indie sewing pattern instructions tend to include such a wealth of information now is fantastic as they are so accessible for all skill levels. But the length of the instructions can be a little overwhelming and unnecessary if you know your way around a knit top so I love having the key points laid out on one page to keep you on track and steer you through the more unusual aspects.

I tend to sew with PDFs more often than not these days, partly because some of the patterns I want to make (like this one!) are only available in that format. After assembling my fair share of pattern downloads I can safely say that Meghann has got it spot on with making that part as straight forward as possible without too much wastage. It was easy to distinguish your size from the rest as the lines are printed in different colours. But if you prefer to print black and white (colour printing can be so costly!) the lines are still different variations of dashes in the usual manner.

I'll be honest and say that when I first checked out the pattern I wasn't sure how well it fitted with my everyday style and what else was in my wardrobe so I made my fabric choice thinking that it would actually be great for yoga. But now I've tried it I quite like the shape and am really considering making a couple more in soft, matte cottons for day to day. I think it looks great with slim jeans but could also be lovely tucked into one of my high waisted floaty viscose skirts in the summer. A french terry with a Breton stripe would be delicious and seeing the texture on the reverse of the fabric roll to the outside around the neckline would be a lovely detail. I also think going up a size or even two and using a snuggly sweat-shirting would be a great look. The versatility of this style has taken me by surprise and I'm really glad I stepped out of my style comfort zone! As for this version I've been wearing it a lot for yoga as intended and it is great for that kind of exercise. I don't like to wear anything too tight fitting on my top half for yoga and the amount of ease in the body is spot on. The wide waistband is just tight enough around the hips that it sits in place no matter what shape I twist myself into and the slimmer fit of the sleeves also feels nice and secure.

If you fancy making one of these tops yourself I've got good news as Halfmoon Atelier and Offset Warehouse have teamed up to offer you whopper of a giveaway! You can make my exact same top as the winner of the giveaway will receive a copy of the PDF pattern and also 1.5m of the same bamboo jersey as I have used. To enter all you need to do is leave a comment on this post by midnight GMT on Thursday 22nd February and if you like tell me about your experiences with ethical sewing. I'd love to discover some more suppliers and pattern companies with this mindset. The giveaway is open to UK entries only and as always please make sure to leave your email address in the comment if it is not easily accessible through your profile so I can contact the winner and arrange delivery of your sewing goodies! Big thanks to both Halfmoon Atelier and Offset Warehouse for so generously offering up this giveaway and giving me the opportunity to try out something new. Good luck!