It seems as though most of the sewing blogosphere has already made Simplicity 1366.  I now understand why this has been such a popular pattern.

Simplicity describe this as a “loose fitting short sleeve top”. Well yes, it is. But they don’t say that it is dartless, with elbow length sleeves, and a slightly cropped length. Or that it has dropped shoulders that set in beautifully and seem to sit well on everyone.

Yes, there’s a fair bit of fabric pooling there – I should have shortened the back waist. But otherwise, it fits as an oversized woven top should. I made size 12 without alteration. Remember that I’m only 158cm tall, so this would be slightly cropped on lots of people. I finished the neckline with contrasting bias binding, but no-one can see that when I’m wearing it. So here is photographic proof.

This is very easy to construct and doesn’t take a great deal of fabric. From what I’ve seen elsewhere it can be made successfully from knits or wovens, and it’s easy enough to alter the sleeve length. Those dropped shoulders are in just the right spot.

I actually made this top so that I would have something to wear with this skirt that I recently – gasp! – bought. I find it so hard to buy things that I feel I could make myself, but this skirt really called to me. I adore the African wax cotton print. And it’s bags! How could I resist! The skirt comes from Ngati Fifi. It’s a wrap skirt with poppers that make it highly adjustable, and it’s reversible! I’ll show you the other side in another blog post soon.

The yellow cotton I used for the top was originally in Anna’s stash – it’s lightweight and has a shot appearance.  Although I love mustard, I don’t generally wear yellow – in fact, it’s only been in the last year or two that I’ve come around to giving it a go.  As long as I accessorise with colour and wear lipstick, I think it’s okay.  I’ll definitely be using this pattern again to make some more simple tops that will work with this skirt.