Slash-neck winner

Before fall hit here, Jennifer Lauren (of Jennifer Lauren Handmade) contacted me about her latest pattern release, the Gable top, a cute 1950s-inspired tee with a slash neck. Little did she know, but it was the exact same type of top I was hoping to try and backwards architect from my favorite Vivien of Holloway slash neck tops, as I hadn’t found a similar sewing pattern out there yet. She wondered if I’d be interested in a copy of the pattern to review, and since I already had slash necks on my mind and this would save me the trouble of drafting the neckline myself, that was a big ol’ “yes please and thank you!” from me, right away!

Cut to the chase: I love it! It was easy to sew up, as you’d expect a knit top like this to be, especially since there’s no neckband to fuss with at all. I sewed an 8 going by the size chart and I’m quite happy with the fit.

I only made 2 changes:  First, I shortened the torso considerably, by 1 3/4″. I could just tell looking at it that it looked really long for me. I didn’t re-add the length back at the hem and I could probably still stand to lose another 1″ off the hem. I also shortened the sleeves for 3/4 length but nowhere nearly enough, so they’re still almost full length on me. The width is also too wide at the end of the sleeve so next time, I’ll just chop off length mid-arm, keep the width at the sleeve hem and it should be perfect.

The slash neckline is of course the best thing about this pattern! It has just the right look, and with no fussing, the shoulder seam line of the pattern was perfect to keep bra straps well hidden away.

As the pattern is written, you can opt to not finish the neckline completely until after the sleeves are set in, so that you can decide if you want it to sit lower in the front or back than a true slash neck, but I thought that would make topstitching it a complete pain. So I just threw the thing over my head with only the shoulder seams sewn and eyeballed it. I’m fine with a true slash neck though, so I wasn’t too worried. And the result sits nicely front and back.

Topstitching it flat was sooo much easier, and turned out great. I’d highly recommend using a walking foot if you have one, as it prevents a lot of puckers (I say this having forgotten until I did the back, and then used it on the front and it was a noticeable difference).

I’m not used to topstitching so deep into a knit fabric where it’s highly visible, so I took my time and did it from the wrong side to get it perfect and right at the edge of the fabric on the inside. I usually use Wonder Tape in knit hems instead of pins but tried something different and used a glue stick to keep the neckline flat while topstitching. Worked great!

I went with a sunny yellow. Kind of silly as I realize my very first knit top (a Coco) was yellow too, but for some reason I had two lengths of yellow cotton spandex in my stash so I wanted to go with that before busting into anything else. I turned some of the leftovers into underpants!

I paired my Gable top with a favorite autumnal brooch and a vintage pleated skirt with a small floral print that fits in nicely for fall. And because I now desperately need to rotate out my shoes for the season, pink Swedish Hasbeen clogs.

There’s really not much else to say, but Gable gets a thumbs up from me for sure! It’s an easy to follow pattern, and probably even suitable if you’re a newbie to knits as there are tips on fabric selection, stitches, etc. I felt the sizing was accurate for the fit I expected, and I love how the neckline looks (not all slash necks are created equal). I expect to make a ton more of these in various sleeve lengths. And obviously, stripes. Many stripes! The only downfall of a slash neck is that it’s not always the most tidy underneath layers, so this pattern may get shelved soon to make a reappearance in spring. Hey, a girl can dream! 😉