The lines of Vogue 8881 and the ability to either play with stripes of combine different fabrics appealed to me when it was first released.  Luckily for me it was in the drawer at my local Spotty when patterns went on sale recently.  I gave view C a try, the view with the asymmetrical neckline and hem points, with the full length sleeves from view F.  This top can be made sleeveless or with sleeves of varying lengths.

I sewed this up at size Medium (12-14) with no alterations. The fabric is a lovely viscose knit that was given to me; it had a beautiful light hand and was great to sew. However, like most of my first goes at a pattern, this is really a wearable muslin. I have come to the conclusion that I would rather take the little bit of extra time required on a simple garment like this to make it wearable than to sew up a straight muslin that couldn’t be worn. I have plenty of friends who are happy to take my wearable muslins if they’re not quite right for me.

So, onto changes that this one needs for next time. I am happy enough with the tunic length, and the fit of the sleeves – they are narrow, but not too tight. And I like my long sleeves quite long, as these are.  But I need to bring in the shoulders and I definitely need to raise the neckline and bring it in at the shoulders.

At this stage I plan to take a centre back fold at the top of the back pattern piece, which should bring the shoulders in a little and will also snug the neckline closer to my body. Or else I could just redraw the neckline at the shoulder seams and the armhole, but with my curved upper back I find that altering the centre back has a similar effect in knits. I’ll also infill the front neck pattern piece by about an inch and a half, and will bring in the front neckline at the shoulder seams and adjust the front armhole seams by a similar amount at the top. I will try to remember to photograph the pattern pieces once they are done!

I wasn’t able to match the stripes completely, as the angles where the seams meet aren’t acute enough. They are matched at the side seams, and the sleeve seams are matched too. I really like this pattern, and it will definitely get another outing, but a friend may be the lucky recipient of this version!