When I was tidying/sorting/organising my fabric stash recently I came across some printed rayon from Spotlight that was left over from sewing Christmas gifts a few years ago.  I decided that a good way to get it out of my stash would be to sew it up into something.  There was just enough for a Style Arc Betty tunic.

This is another repeat – I’ve sewn this pattern twice before. From the pattern website: This relaxed fit, square shaped tunic features a round neck, side splits and a hi low hemline. This tunic will see you through many seasons and become a favourite. Leave the sleeve elbow length or turn back the shaped sleeve facing to create a cuff.

I made a couple of changes to the finishing. The front is a little bit shorter than drafted and doesn’t have quite a deep a hem as the back. That’s purely due to fabric restrictions (yes, I cut out the back first then realised how little fabric I had left to play with to cut out the front). I didn’t have enough fabric to do the shaped sleeve facings as per the pattern, and instead decided to cut and make some bias binding and finish the sleeve edges with that instead.

The neckline binding isn’t done as per the instructions either. It’s normally a narrower binding, but I decided to use it like an narrow bias external facing, applied the same way as the sleeve finish and topstitched in place. If you look closely you can see the ‘stripes’ around the neckline and sleeve hems are on the diagonal – that’s the bias tape!  By the way, I sewed size 12.

This top also works beautifully with my Stokx Square Pants. Definitely a positive addition to my wardrobe!