There is a fun backstory to this make.  When two of my online sewing buddies (who I’m lucky to have met in real life even though we all live in different states of Australia!) realised that the houses print from the recent Tessuti Italian ponte drop was our favourite, we all decided to buy some fabric, make a garment (top secret business) and reveal the finished item on Instagram on the first Saturday in November.

I purchased the fabric within the week and then I agonised and agnoised over what to make.  I think I might have spent ten times as long thinking about this project than I did actually sewing it!  Do you ever do this?

The two main reasons for all the thinking:

• I wanted to try and new-to-me pattern
• The ponte was much lighter and less structured (yes, it had loads of drape) than ponte fabric I’d used in the past

The Inari dress was a big contender, but I was scared-off by the armscye depth issues that many before me have written about.  In the end I settled on a Japanese pattern.  I know, Japanese patterns aren’t usually drafted for knit fabrics, and this one is not the exception to the rule…  I sewed a woven pattern in a jersey.  What a rule breaker!

The pattern is ‘Pattern D’ from the now out-of-print original Nani Iro book.  I’m not sure of the books name, but Naomi Ito is the author and it was published by in 2008 by Bunka Shuppan Kyoku.  If you can get your hands on a second hand copy… do it!

If you are super keen on this pattern, it’s also available (with different pockets) for free from the Nani Iro website (click on Woman T-shirt) but you’ll have to draft it up yourself from a diagram.

Thankfully, the Bombazine girls gave me the heads up that the pattern is quite cropped, so I added two inches (5cm) to the length.  I’ve sewn the size small, adding the suggested seam and hem allowances, and leaving off the pockets (the print was too busy for pockets).  Like many Japanese patterns it has excessive ease, but it’s one of the things I like about this top.

To check the neckline and the length of the top, I sewed up a calico toile.  Everything was to my liking so I drafted a neck facing (it’s as much drafting as I’m capable of!) and started cutting.  And just for the record, this pattern is a fabric eater (see second last photo).

I was never going to attempt any pattern matching, but I did play special attention to the placement of the red and yellow roofs on the front pattern piece.

Pattern:  Pattern D from the originial Nani Iro book (free version available on the Nani Iro website… click on Woman T-shirt)
Size:  Small
Fabric:  Ponte from Tessuti
Alterations:  Added 2″ (5cm) to the length of the top.  Drafted a facing and top stitched it in place.
Accessories:  Aqua beads a gift and shoes from Habbot.
Location: Eastern Suburbs of Melbourne