A dazzle of Zebres!

Hi there!

I’ve been doing a little research for today’s post to discover the name for a group of zebras; did you know it was a dazzle? What an appropriate name for a collection of me mades!

My latest post for Minerva Crafts is about my second version of the I Am Patterns Zebre top.  Since I never blogged the first one, I thought I’d group them together in this post, hence the opportunity to expand our collective vocabularies (admit it, I’m not the only one who didn’t know about the dazzle!)

So, the Zebre.  It’s described as a butterfly sleeve sweatshirt, which for the uninitiated means it has great big puffy sleeves gathered into long, slim fit cuffs. We’re learning so much today, aren’t we!  It also has three poppers fastening the left shoulder seam.

I bought it as a pdf, which meant I also got the Lion pattern included.  That will be saved for another day!

For my first version, I used some very snuggly emerald green jersey.  I honestly don’t know what the name for this fabric is, but it’s a definite knit and is almost furry on one side.  I bought this particular fabric on a cataclysmically bad day at work; the kind of day where you walk out of the building because it’s the only way you might not say something you’ll really regret.  So basically, it’s a big hug in fabric form.

For that first version, I went with the body measurements on the pack, meaning I graded between a 40 at the shoulder and a 42 at the hip.  I used some matt gold Prym snaps on the shoulder for a little contrast, which realistically is going to be hidden by my hair a lot of the time.

On the subject of that shoulder fastening, if you don’t feel like making it, you don’t need to; this fits easily over my head without opening the fastening.  If you do attempt it, there’s a sew along on their blog which definitely helped me understand what was going on.

And it’s OK.  But only OK.  The sleeves are glorious, beautifully designed and really different, which I love.  But the body just feels too big; too much loose fabric combined with all the sleeve fabric plus the shoulder seams sit well beyond my shoulders, which I notice they don’t do on the pattern photos.

Still, it’s wearable and like most red heads, this is an amazing colour for me, which makes me feel  better!

To see how I adjusted the fit for my second, far more successful, version, head on over to the Minerva Crafts Blogger Network now for all the details.  It might not be the most scientific solution, but it worked!

Are you tempted to start your own dazzle?

Becca x

Details:

Pattern: I Am patterns Zebre 

My measurements: bust 35″: waist  31″: hip 41″

Size cut: first version: size 40 on top grading to 42 on the hips.

second version: size 36 on top grading to 40 on the hips

Adjustments made: grading between sizes

Fabric: Emerald green viscose knit from The Fabbadashery

Atelier Brunette jersey from Minerva Crafts

Future adjustments: Nope

Make again: Not sure.  I’m really happy with the second version but the sleeves are SUCH a statement, I’m not sure how many I really need in my wardrobe?