The Ravenna

Hi! Today I am joining the celebration of the 1st anniversary of Straight Stitch Designs at the "Remix The Stitch" tour. I am proud to be part of this journey since I have been testing and touring Kimberly's wonderful patterns since the very beginning. 

You may have seen the children's free Mae tunic pattern I made here. Then the Ballard (knit), the Bellevue (knit and woven) and recently the Greenwood tank (knit). Love them all and they are in heavy rotation on my wardrobe.

Today I am showing off one of my new favorite tops. It's the Ravenna, and you can find it here. I changed the pattern a bit to make it suitable for the Fall weather that arrived last week and I made it out of an amazing navy blue silk crepe with a swallow print. Not an easy fabric to sew but it drapes beautifully... I wish I had a V-blog so you could see it. :) 

Pattern: 
An altered version of the Ravenna top, a pattern by Straight Stitch Designs.

Fabric:
A navy blue (although it seems lighter in the photos) silk crepe with a swallows print.

Details:
The original pattern has a beautiful scooped back with optional (lovely) ruffles and short or 3/4 length sleeves. Since the weather is already a bit chilly around here I made the sleeves longer and the back higher.

The long sleeves were an easy hack. I measured my arm length and added the necessary length to the sleeve pattern piece. I opted for the most easy (aka lazy) way of hemming and adding a closing to a sleeve - double fold the edge and make it an elastic case (I used a 3/8 inches elastic).

For the back I traced a line several inches higher than the original one. The fabric was cut on fold (and not two pattern pieces, as the original). A slit was cut and finished with bias tape and I added a button loop and a single button. I have several RTW tops with this type of closure. In fact they are all like this, unless they have a button placket on the front. It seems to be very popular around here, in Europe, but not so used by the USA RTW brands, as I discovered a few months ago while talking with a large group of USA resident fellow bloggers. Curious sewing fact, right?

These alterations were really easy to make and I think it turned out lovely for the Fall weather.


The instructions are very thorough and easy to follow. The pattern pieces match perfectly and I only wish they had a few notches here and there. 

This is already one of my favorite pieces for this Fall/Winter season. Are you sewing for Fall? I have a plan for some sort of a capsule wardrobe (it won't be a true capsule wardrobe because I love to have many clothes on my wardrobe...) and it is slowly being built. I will be sharing everything here soon!

Here is the amazing line up for this tour. Make sure you take a few minutes every day to look at all the Straight Stitch patterns being made and remixed for this tour. 

Tuesday, 8th: Meg Cookin' and Craftin' | Jennifer Ginger Peach Studio

Wednesday, 9th: Ajaire Call Ajaire | Heidi Handmade Frenzy | Stacey Boy, Oh Boy, Oh Boy Crafts

Thursday, 10th: Melissa Rebel & Malice | Annika Näh-Connection | Abby Sew Much Ado

Friday, 11th: Katie It's Hard to Hear Up Here | Jane Buzzmills | Lisa Mabey She Made It

Saturday, 12th: Elena Randomly Happy | Allie Indiesew | Jess If Only They Would Nap

Monday, 14th: Jaime Made By Jaime | Lauren BASTE + GATHER | Sara Made by Sara

Tuesday, 15th: Audrey Skirt Fixationy | Teri Fa Sew La | Hayley Welcome to the Mouse House

Wednesday, 16th: Emi Just Add Fabric | Rachael Imagine Gnats | Teresa Dandelion Drift

Thursday, 17th: Kaysie | KZJO'STUDIO Rita Conversas de Hermanas | Stephanie Swoodson Says

Friday, 18th: Andreia In a Manner of Sewing | Nienke Pienkel | Abbey Sew Charleston

Kimberly is offering 50% discount off all patterns in her shop, both pdf and paper, and 40% off Stitch Kits. This sale will run from September 7th until September 20th. No code necessary.

There is also a giveaway for this tour. Make sure to entry the Rafflecopter below for a chance to win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Happy sewing!



PS: This blog post contains affiliate links.