Anaconda

Yet another Jungle January project!

When Andrea and I were in Michigan last month, I bought this beautiful "anaconda" print rayon/lycra jersey.  I almost didn't buy it - I looked at it several times and put it back, because I generally don't wear black/grey.  But when I saw that the description included plum tones, I caved.  I still don't see the plum, but the belief that it's there makes this fabric a go for me.

I didn't have a firm plan for this fabric when I bought it, other than "top."  So I looked through my stash of Burda magazines, and settled on this simple dolman-sleeve tee:  Burda 12/2013 #128.  You all know I love a dolman sleeve.

The sleeves on this top are very long, and designed to be pushed up I think.  They also have a double-layer cuff, which I think is kind of nice.

For this top, I traced a straight size EU 36 with no adjustments.  The only change I made to the construction was to do the neck binding in my normal, folded way, rather than turned to the inside.  Just because I generally prefer the look of it.

The recommended hem allowance for this top is 1 5/8", but because I'd only purchased 1.5 yards of this fabric, I didn't have enough to add on any length at all for the hem, so this top turned out an inch or so shorter than it ought to be.  I wish I'd had enough to make it slightly longer, which surprised me:  Burda tops are usually far too long on me.  I like this pattern enough that I'll be making it again, so for future versions I'll make them a bit longer.

I think this is a great little pattern.  It's very similar to the Cation Designs Dolman Sleeve Top, but without the waistband and with longer sleeves and deeper dolmans.  I was going to say that this is a good pattern if you like the Cation top but were sized out, because when I traced my Cation pattern it was only available in one size.  But as I linked it up, I saw that Cindy has expanded the range of sizes!

Here's how this one looks:

A closer look:

And check out how long the sleeves are!  I do have short-ish arms, but still!  Funny!  You can barely see the tips of my right fingers at the bottom.

I paired it with these coated spinel earrings I made a few years ago - one of my fave pairs:

And finally, here's your little bit of silliness - click on the picture below for a fun suprise!

Sssssssssssssssssss!!