The Tessuti Alice Top
Throwback Thursday

Oh, hi everyone. Long time no see. I’m so sorry things went so quiet around here two years ago. As it sometimes happens, life got in the way and then more life and some more. I irregularly posted on instagram, but I miss my little space here. I’d love to revive it a bit, new design, name and all but until I have time for THAT, I thought I’d share some pictures from past projects. Most of them don’t have a lot of detail shots, so I hope you don’t mind. This project – the Tessuti Alice top – is actually from 2016. As is it’s text. Here’s what 2016-me had to say:

It’s funny how sometimes I sew something and all the time while I’m making it, I am kind of afraid because I know it’s something that’s normally not my style. As happened with this pattern, the Tessuti Alice top. I’m not usually one for tops with pregnancy type flow, but somehow this pattern – and the fact that my closet is lacking interesting tops to pair with skinny jeans – got me hooked.

Inspiration and Size for my Tessuti Alice Top

I first discovered Tessuti’s grey striped version on pinterest which made me think of this tiny gingham fabric in my stash.

Before sewing up a new pattern I usually check out other blogger’s makes and Rachel (among other people) recommended going down a size as the pattern turns out quite big. So I ignored the measurements chart and went with the XXS right away. Which is great because the smaller size – and therefore more fitted look – help tune down the pregnancy vibe. The top is a teeny bit tight around the bust now, but still okay. For reference, my bust measures 86cm/33.8“.

The Making

The whole thing was pretty easy to sew together. I followed the instructions very loosely, mostly referencing to them for the seam allowances (there’s 4 different widths throughout the pattern, so be careful). The most difficult part was setting in the sleeves, but with some patience and lots of needles it was definitely doable.

I used white piping on the yoke and purple rayon as facing fabric. Both are leftovers from another project. The sleeves aren’t interfaced and since I don’t have an overlocker, I hand-stitched the facings and inner armhole bands to the fabric. Now the top could almost be worn inside-out  :) As many before me, I determined the length to be wrong and cut a few centimeters off the bottom.

The printing instructions, tho …

The only issue I have with this pattern is that the printing instructions are super confusing. The pattern pieces for the print-at-home version come in two separate PDFs files. Then there’s an additonal file of written-out instructions that tells you which pages to print for which size. But even if you follow the instructions, you are still missing some pages. Because I was so annoyed and printing took forever, here’s a handy list on which pages to print for the XXS-S version of the top:

SHEET 1: 1 (Test Page), 2,3,8,9,23-25,30,31
SHEET 2: 1 (Test Page), 2–6, 8–13

All in all …

I must say: I’m a bit surprised by this one. Flowy tops with girly details like gathers aren’t usually my style. But the grey fabric and more fitted look make it work for me. The colour goes with everything but the top looks interesting at the same time, thanks to the piping, gathers and sleeves. I’m planning to wear this with all of my skinny jeans, lots of colourful cardigans and scarves, plus the occasional shorts.

Do you have styles that you absolutely avoid wearing? Why?

I hope you enjoyed this little Throwback to 2016. Sadly, 2016 was also the year when my style changed so much that this beautiful top hardly got any wear. I am thinking of starting an instagram sale of some of my beautiful handmade-but-never-worn garments. So just in case anyone is still reading this blog – let me know what you think abou it ;)