Still on my scrap-busting mission, I paired a quilted knit with an interesting surface printed one to create a top based on New Look 6343.

I used the quilted knit for the body, and the lighter weight printed jersey for the sleeves and neckband. The neckband is a strip of selvage. I got the idea from a Tilton sisters Craftsy class I’d done a little while ago. It utilises the natural roll along the selvage. I really like it (even though it would have been better with the neckband seam located somewhere else.

This pattern has an interestingly shaped armscye. It’s New Look 6343, also known as ‘Misses knit tunic in two lengths, and top’. I can’t find it on the Simplicity site to link to it, but here it is on Pattern Review.  I wonder if it’s recently gone out of print?

Essentially I sewed view D with view B sleeve length and cuffs.  The cuffs were sewn from the quilted knit, the same as the body.  My top was slightly longer than view D, as I know that cropped isn’t my favourite length, but my remnant was quite small and really dictated how long I could make it.  Anyway, when I tried it on, it was obvious that it was TOO SHORT.  The top ended right in the centre of my belly’s greatest convex curve.  Not a look that I felt comfortable with.  So I ferreted through the remaining scraps of the sleeve/neckband knit, and added a panel to the front and the back of the top to alter it to tunic length.

Although that was much better in terms of tummy coverage, when I tried it on it was apparent that the top was now TOO LONG. The proportions of different fabrics just weren’t pleasing! So after more thought – trying to decide whether to ditch it completely or to keep on tweaking – I cut the length of the bottom panels in half, following the shaping of the main body hemlines. And what do you know – now it was pretty much JUST RIGHT!

I am not actually much of a pattern alterer (is that a word?) – I tend to sew something up, and either wear it as is or give it away if it doesn’t work. This was a really good reminder that it doesn’t take long to change things a little bit and end up with a vastly improved end product.

The overall fit is quite pleasing, but I have my usual short-back-waist length issues at centre back (as usual, exacerbated by my waist measurement being mostly located on the front half of my body). And grey. Grey is not my best colour. However, I love the texture of the body and cuffs and the splodgy pattern on the sleeves and lower panel!

Sewing notes – I think that this was size 14. As always, what others describe (generally in a derogatory tone) as ‘shapeless’ and ‘boxy’ is actually a great shape for my figure type that doesn’t include a defined waist as it has good shoulder and upper chest fit. Most construction was on the overlocker, although I used the sewing machine a fair bit as well. I think that this is a good pattern to have in your pattern library – those armscyes are really very nice and elevate the usual knit top/tunic pattern a little bit above the norm.