City Chic Top by Peek-a-Boo Patterns

I was excited to be able to sew the City Chic Top from Peek-A-Boo Patterns.  I love the cowl neckline, and how unique it was.  I love the look and drape of scarves, but I have a hard time wearing them for long periods.  This neckline (especially if done in a contrasting fabric) fixes that for me by giving me a similar look to a scarf, but it’s attached to my shirt and not as bulky.

This pattern went together fairly quickly, with the gathering of the cowl and sewing it onto the shirt taking the longest.  The V can be a little bit tricky, which is why I classified this as advanced beginner to intermediate.  The rest of the shirt goes together very easily, and with the cuffs and the bottom of the band, there is no hemming on the shirt involved!  Am I the only one who hates hemming and loves when I don’t have to do that?

The one part you do have to hem is the top of the cowl.  The pattern mentions topstiching it down, hand stitching, or doing a blind hem.  I just topstiched it down, but it does show more than I expected.  Next time I think I would try to do a blind hem or hand stitch it instead.

For this shirt I used a light sweater knit I had for the body of the shirt, and cotton lycra I got from a Girl Charlee Knit Fix many months ago.  I forgot to lengthen the body of the shirt to fit me, as I am 5’10”.  I think I would add about an inch or two to get the look I like, however this is definitely wearable as is!  This is a good reminder to actually check the finished measurements chart and adjust the pattern accordingly.  I usually have to lengthen most shirts unless they are tunics, but that is the great thing about sewing my own clothes.  I can actually customize them to get them to fit me

 

Denita also made a fabulous version below!