Sewing up....

Well, the purple cotton top is finished and I think it's a bit of a winner. 

Supreme Chunky Cotton Top (1)

Supreme Chunky Cotton Top (2)

The pattern was easy to knit once I'd gone through it a couple of times and the yarn knitted up quickly and easily. I think there were maybe two knots in the entire batch of yarn, which isn't too bad, and generally the project was an enjoyable knitting experience.

Then it came time to make it up. The instructions said to top-sew the seams. That worried me, as top-sewing/top-stitching gives a very bulky seam (you are sewing into the row under the cast off or garment edge) and I didn't fancy any idea that might make me look like an aspiring gridiron player!

So I did one shoulder seam using mattress stitch and top-stitched the other.


Top-Stitch Seam  

Mattress Stitch Seam

I was surprised to find that the mattress stitch seam actually didn't look that great. It sat nice and flat, and wasn't bulky, but the the top-stitch seam actually fitted in better with the character of the garment. So I top-stitched the rest of the seams. The lesson for me to take away - even if a pattern cover photo is badly styled, the designer probably still knows more than I do! The top is now alternating between store display and mobile advertisement (i.e. I'm wearing it out). Sadly, I didn't get to wear it at Christmas, as I forgot to pack it, but I did get to spend Christmas finishing off my first ever effort at a yoked jumper (pattern from Men's Jet 20 Designs 1266). Happy combined Father's Day and Christmas Dad!