Way back in February, my husband and I went to Las Vegas. Working in a hospital, I wear scrubs five days out of the week, and pajamas the other two. So, despite avidly sewing for myself, I don’t have a very robust closet anymore (thanks weight gain!) and went into panic mode to try and make some things to wear in the southwest. My friend gave me this lovely maxi skirt to wear there, and I had no tops to go with it. So naturally, I dug in my scrap pile and found just enough of this polka-dot ponte to whip together a Kalle crop top. And of course, to make it more complicated, I decided to alter it to be a popover rather than a full button placket!
I barely scraped by with enough fabric on this bad boy. I skipped the collar and made it a band collar, though I have to say, I love a good band collar. The hem facings and inner yoke are cut from black quilting cotton, and the sleeves, collar, and front button band are another black ponte I had laying around. My machine had a little trouble chugging through the thick layers of ponte, but a couple needle changes later it worked out.
I love the overall fit of this top, which I expected since I love the Kalle shirtdress. However, I will definitely lengthen the top in my next make! The front length is nearly indecent on me, the top of this crop comes just above my high waisted jeans. Lengthening it by about 2 inches would be the perfect length, so I’ll be doing that in future makes. It takes so little fabric to whip together, I will probably be making this up frequently to use up my scraps!
It’s a shame it feels so short on me because I really do love the overall look of this shirt. It’s kind of bad ass, and makes me feel simultaneously comfortable and confident. Come summer and spring, I’ll try to pair it with more high waisted skirts and shorts to make it work.