Style Arc Elani and Barb

Happy days. The roof is complete, no more leaks, my hair is cut! and I am finally feeling some sew-jo 🙂

I haven’t posted a pic of myself in so long that this is almost a reveal. Behind the scenes, I’ve been looking for a woven tunic top with some fun detail. Enter the Style Arc Elani tunic:

It’s not a new release, in fact I have notes in my Evernote files about this top going back a couple years – about how I could modify the Adeline dress for an Elani. In fact, reasonable, but more on that below.

My britches a the Style Arc Barb pants in poly bengaline. And the rumples are my approach to linen – wash, dry, wear.

This is so cute!

Sewing notes:

• My fabric is a linen/rayon blend, 55%/45%, from Fabric.com. I laundered it twice, once before cutting, and once after construction. I drew all over this top with pencil while I was sewing it.
• I drafted the size 10, my usual size for a Style Arc top.
• I do not know why SA uses 1/4″ neckline seam allowances, but I drew mine at 3/8″, to match the remainder of the pattern and to make me comfortable with using linen.
• From sewing the Adeline, I knew the neckline would gap. So I sewed the front with a 3/8″ seam allowance, serged and topstitched. In fact, the additional detail keeps this top from resembling a scrub top… And I adjusted the neckline and hem facings to match.
• The pattern has sleeve facings, with a suggestion for turning them in a narrow cuff. Not liking short sleeve cuffs, I just turned the sleeve with a 1″ hem.
• A big, actually major, disappointment. The pockets. The Style Arc drawings suggest a unique pocket. Well, no. The included pocket is the usual kidney bean version, which I used. But I was not happy to find this anomaly in the actual pattern. And I’ve sent an email to Style Arc about this, requesting a pattern re-draft. Hmmm. I will, of course, share any response.
• The instructions are the usual sparse and kind of weird Style Arc notes, but I do think a beginner sewist could do this with a little forethought and examination of the pattern.
• BTW, the first 4 times I typed ‘sewist’, WordPress changed it to ‘sexist’.

So, some fun. I’ve read a lot of reviews that compare the Elani top to the Adeline dress. And it’s true, the pattern is exactly the same down to the hemline. I’ve added measurements in the pics below, in the event you would like to modify your Adeline.

Crocs meet gator …

Bye for now! Coco