The Two Penelope's

 I wanted to enter the contest for a chance to win August KnitFix .  To enter you must use fabrics from the July KnitFix and also use patterns from See Kate Sew .  I liked the style of the Penelope Peplum and there was a coupon for $4.00 off  included in the bag.  I got this bitsy floral rayon jersey that has a really nice soft feel to it.  I thought it would make a nice top and others had already posted pictures of their Penelope Peplum made with the same fabric and the looked very cute.  I wanted to be a bit more creative than just making the whole top with the same fabric.  Well I actually got inspired by this top from Anthropology.

During one of my regular treks to JoAnn Fabrics I spotted the silk patchwork Georgette and I was pretty sure it would coordinate nicely with the tiny floral I was planning to use.  I actually adapted the pattern a little to fit more of what I had in mind.  The pattern called for the use of knit fabric in the entire top.  Since the peplum was a gathered piece I was sure my woven silk would work fine.  The pattern has facings to finish the neckline.  I don't really like facings on knit garments as I think bindings look better and also they are easier to apply.  I also wanted to tie the peplum fabric together with the top.  So I ended up making bias binding for the neckline and the edge of the sleeves.  I really like the way this top turned out and the fit is great too.  At first I thought the neckline was a bit too low but after wearing it I think it is fine.  

For another entry in the contest I decided to make one more Penelope.  The chevron fabric that I used for the peplum is the July fabric.  I had made another top with this fabric so I was trying to see if I could squeeze something else out of it. I didn't have enough to cut it out going in the suggested direction so I cut it in the lengthwise grain.  I actually like it that way too.  For the top part I had this 1/2 yard piece of turquoise cotton spandex knit that I thought went well with the chevrons.  I had used a bit of it to finish the little boy boxer briefs .  My fabric piece was not big enough to cut it in the suggested direction either but it was 4 way stretch so I thought it would be fine.  While I like the top and I cut the same size as the previous Penelope top I had made it did not fit the same at all.  I think it had more to do with the fabric than the wrong direction of cutting.  The little floral jersey was very soft and stretchy so it fit much looser.  The cotton spandex was much more stable with greater recovery and it just didn't stretch as much as the jersey.  I just think it is interesting how much difference the fabric makes in the fit.  The other changes I made to the pattern were to eliminate the sleeves because I didn't have enough of the turquoise fabric for sleeves.  I also cut the armholes in a little more to give it more of a tank top look.  And i bound the neckline and the armholes with fold over elastic.  I had some brown with little pink dots on it.  It matched the colors in the chevron and I think tied everything together well.


Both tops turned out well.  I like them both.  Even though they were made from the same pattern they look very different.  I like this pattern and will probably use it again.