I was so pleased to see Style Arc‘s Darby and Joan bundle pop up last month – pants and a top that are designed to work together.  I bought both, but so far have only sewn the Joan top.

Style Arc describe this pattern as follows: PRODUCT DESCRIPTION – Square shape, “V” neck, Extended shoulder line finished with a band, Slightly dipped back hemline, Sits on the high hip. Wide hem facings. FABRIC SUGGESTION Washed linen, charmeuse, crepe, rayon.

My plan is to sew this in linen, which I really love to wear as the weather warms up despite the wrinkles inherent in the fibre.  First, I wanted to sew a wearable muslin.  I had a length of border printed fabric bought in Sarawak, Borneo back in January that I thought could work well in this style.  First though I needed to decide how to place the darker teal border on the top.  I asked the Instagram hive mind for opinions on whether it should run across the shoulders or the hemline of the top – and a few people suggested that I run it vertically!  So I did.

This kept the teal colour closer to my face – I think it’s a better colour on me than the cream background of the rest of the print. The print isn’t completely symmetrical, so it isn’t perfectly matched along that centre front seam. The colour then shifts nicely to the lighter background along the sleeve cuffs.

I actually had to shorten the top a little bit to fit the front pattern piece along the border of the available fabric. It’s about 5/8″ shorter now than designed, which actually works well for short-waisted me. I took a fold of the same amount out of the back piece so that the side seams matched up. I rather like the gently curve of the back hemline. Wide facings finish it really nicely too.  I interfaced the neckline facings, but not any of the others.

I sewed size 12. It’s roomy, as designed. I find that Style Arc are very consistent with their sizing, and I am generally quite happy to sew the same size in their patterns almost all of the time and wear the garment with the style and design ease that was intended. But the joy of sewing is that you can do differently if you so desire! I decided not to do a forward shoulder or high rounded back alteration for my first go at this pattern because I doubted that the depth of the front and the back necklines would require it. In retrospect I possibly could have done a forward shoulder alteration, and still might, but it’s not a drastic requirement.  I am also considering unpicking then re-stitching the front hemline in a darker thread colour to match the background fabric.  The hemline is the only visible topstitching in this garment.  The neckline facings have been stitched in the ditch at the relevant seamlines to secure them.

I really like a V-neckline with a centre front seam – I find that it helps to get a lovely sharp finish. However, it can take a bit of practice and be a little tricky. Style Arc have a YouTube tutorial on how to face and sew the V-neckline for this top in case the instructions and diagram doesn’t work for you.  The pants I am wearing the Joan top with in these photos is the Style Arc Ethel pants. These were sewn back in 2015 and have been worn over and over but they’re still going strong in the way that linen can! I have another Joan top cut out and some coordinating linen earmarked for the Darby pants. Maybe I’ll sew them up this weekend!