One of the great things about our design process is that it’s collaborative. We can make a sample, edit it quickly, photograph it and find out what you think immediately. We thought we’d show you how that went this week :)
Here goes!
Months ago, Amanda started talking to me about a shirt with a side cowl. (At least that was what I thought she was on about ;) So I started imagining a top with a built up shoulder to add fullness at one side of the neck.
I’d also been thinking of a top that was a riff on the Indian Summer, where you could wear it different ways by putting your head and arm through different holes, ie. your head through the sleeve… I spent my beach time drawing in the sand, but didn’t really get anywhere.
I saw an idea for a top in a Japanese pattern making book and decided to use it as a starting point. I drafted it, added the idea for the built up side neck cowl, and made this kooky top:
This is interesting, similar to the Batwing shape, but with an extra hole at the underarm, and your head through a shortened armhole.
I thought I’d try it worn with the head through the neck hole:
This is interesting too, though there is a very inconvenient hole at bra-level underarm :)
I took a serious step back and decided to keep three elements. I really liked the cross body draping from the original top worn in the intended manner. I liked the shape of the short sleeve from the top worn the second way. I also liked the asymmetry of the short and half sleeve together in one top.
So I drafted the Slouchy Tee, which I feel pretty great about:
A customer mentioned on Facebook that she’d like to see a symmetrical version of this, with just the short sleeve – basically, a Soft Top without the cowl neckline. So I redrafted without the asymmetry. The result felt too simple, so we went a little nuts with the styling:
We put this on the back burner for a minute. Also, I’m not sure how it’s possible, but all of these tops are exactly the same width at the hem o.0
A few nights ago, Amanda was up late cutting and she realized she didn’t have quite enough fabric to make the custom ruched Deborah Tunic that was ordered. Instead, she tried combining this new top with the ruched body idea and came up with this:
We decided this was a win, made some adjustments, and ran with it. Here’s the Sophie:
The Sophie Top is available in all fabrics. A long sleeve version is doable, but it adds a lot of visual volume ;)
I hope you all have a wonderful week :)
xoxo Emily