I love sewing twist-tops because they always have an interesting assembly method, yet don´t take much longer to make compared to a regular knit top. This pattern is an envelope pattern from Burd Style (6911) and it´s a pretty cool one.
Unlike other twist-tops I´ve sewn, this one has a vertical mid-front seam which allows for a very nice looking and flattering knot construction. The downside is that pattern matching, such as aligning stripes, would probably be a pretty big headache, especially if the knit has a lot of lengthwise stretch too. On the other hand, one of the samples on the Burda pattern has pretty striking stripes and that looks really neat.
This is the second time I´ve sewn this pattern, the first one I made in a beautiful wool jersey. This time I went up a size, from 38 to 40, since I didn´t want a super tight-fitting top, and I think this is quite fitted, especially around the bust/back area. I kept the shoulders a size 38 though. It should be noted that the style runs quite long, even after I did my normal petite adjustments.
I used a thin cotton rib knit which I think has a little Lycra in it, but I got the fabric in a bargain bin so I can´t say for sure. The knit has great cross-wise stretch and slightly less lengthwise, which worked fine for this pattern. However, you do need a fabric with some lengthwise stretch as well when using this pattern since the part that is over the bust area is cut lengthwise due to the knot construction.
The horizontal bust seams tend to hike up over my bust rather than staying below during wear, which you can see in some of the pictures. Not sure if this is a construction feature or due to the fact that I did my normal petite adjustment where I remove a little length above the bust to prevent the neckline from getting too deep.
As for construction, all the front seams are sewn together with a narrow zigzag stitch and pressed open, since it would be both really difficult and uncomfortably bulky to use overlock stitches for these. The rest of the seams are sewn on the serger and all the hemming and back neckline topstitching is done using a coverstitch machine.
The instructions are clear for the most part, but I think the twist section could be explained a little better.
Overall I´m super happy with how it turned out and I think it shapes really nicely over my (relatively small) bust and really gives that area a lovely shaping. Plus it was fun to sew!
