Stripes are a firm favourite of mine, as is the LB Pullover pattern by Paper Theory.

The idea of LB Stripe was born when I found a wide (180cm) navy and cream striped knit (95% cotton/5% Spandex) at The Cloth Shop a few months ago.  This particular fabric has sold out (oh the power of the stripe), but don’t fear, there are many other stripe widths and colours currently on offer.

I’ve talked about it before, but I treat stripe matching as a competitive sport.  In my eyes, the key to success is:

• accurate cutting,
• excessive pinning (in this instance I pinned every stripe… yes every single one!),
• the use of a walking foot (if you have one), and
• machine baste your seams before committing to sewing them with a stretch stitch or overlocker

Sure it takes a little bit of extra time… but the perfectionist in me relishes in the results.  On this occasion, Sharon and I failed to remember to photograph the stripe matching, so we’ll substitute with some scarf action.

I will confess to having a lot of trouble with this neckline.  The funnel neck option on this pattern is very appealing, but I knew that the narrower neckband would result in a top that was easier to layer and accessorise.

As much as I love matched stripes, I also love neckbands that sit perfectly flat.  This neckband was misbehaving in a big way, so in the end, I just folded the neckline under by 3/8″ (1cm) and top-stitched it in place using a twin needle.  My neckband frustration turned into pure joy.  Sometimes the simple solutions are the ones that work the best!

And my final thoughts…. this pattern and fabric work so well together that I have put aside a brown and navy striped jersey for LB Stripe Version 2.

Pattern:  Paper Theory’s LB Pullover
Size:  8
Fabric:  Striped knit (95% cotton/5% Spandex) from The Cloth Shop
Alterations:  I added 1″ (2.5cm) to the length of the top.  I folded over the neckline by 3/8″ (1cm) and top stitched it in place.
Outfit:  Scarf and socks from Scarlet Jones and gold t-bar shoes from Zomp
Photo Location:  Eastern Suburbs, Melbourne