GETRUNTAH

When I was figuring out my nippy weather sewing plans, I really should have included a plan for something like this: a warm under-garment. As much as I like my denim Tova top and as pleased as I am to own it, it turns out that nippy weather wear it is NOT! This, however, IS. 

This is my third go at the Tilly and the Buttons Agnes knit top pattern, and Im confident that it wont be my last. The Agnes top is actually very similar to my early attempts at self-drafting a knit top pattern, but its just so perfect that I doubt Ill ever return to my self-drafted efforts again. Having learnt from the fit of my previous versions, this time I used a size 3, grading out from the armpit to a size 4 for the rest of the sleeve. I knew this would result in a snug fitting garment, but as this is intended to be underwear, that was what I was looking for. When I say snug, I mean snug: I not sure youre ready for this jelly so I avoided sharing a modelled shot of this garment! 

The Agnes already has a fairly wide neckline, but I omitted the neckband in favour of a decorative elastic finish to make the neckline wider still. I did this to avoid it peeking out from whatever Im wearing on top. 

This knit fabric had been burning a hole in my stash for about the last four years! For a while I was planning to use it to make a cropped, short sleeve Jenna cardi, but A) I wasnt sure thered be quite enough, B) I think a tiny summer cardi would see so little wear throughout the year that I wasnt sure I could justify using this fabric on that project, and C) I hate wearing white. I considered dyeing this fabric red, but was worried about getting an even result so I ended up doing nothing with it.

I dont know what the hell it is, or even how to adequately describe it, other than its fairly thick with a floral design/texture somehow knitted into it. Any ideas? Basically, it looks like its designed for thermal garments. Hey, I never claimed to be reinventing the wheel here. When I realised that a warm layerable under-t-shirt would help my current clothing selection limp along til Spring, I knew where to look. 

The cotton lace elastic that I used round the neckline was kindly given to me by my lovely blog sponsor, Textile Garden. At time of writing I couldnt find it on their site so they may have sold out. Its really special stuff so hopefully theyll be getting more in soon, otherwise you could drop them an email in case they still have a stash somewhere. I applied it by gently stitching it to the right side of the garment neckline with a lightning flash stitch, then I flipped the bottom elastic part to the inside of the neckline and secured it in place with a tiny zigzag so only the lace part peeks out. The whole thing stretched out a little through handling but a healthy dose of steam from my iron did the trick and made everything sit as it should. 

The aim of this garment is to bring some of my garments back into regular rotation that would otherwise be hiding until Spring. It has succeeded in that I have been wearing my anchor applique remade sweatshirt, but sadly even this wide neckline is visible underneath my 1960s Breton top.