Grasser 1198 Scarf Neck Top

If you read my latest trends blog post, you’ll have already seen this top amongst the patterns I featured. As soon as I saw it in Grasser’s new collection, I was intrigued by the Grasser 1198 scarf-neck top with long sleeves. I studied the unusual design and straight away I knew that if I made it I would reduce the cutouts a bit and omit the sleeve slits, but otherwise I was keen to try it.

For the fabric, I chose a lovely, muted warm-red merino jersey (my favourite fabric for knit tops). I bought the fabric last year from The Fabric Store in New Zealand, I can highly recommend them :). Merino always feels very luxe to wear and is so easy to care for by washing on a cool setting in the machine. It also presses nicely with a little steam. Now, here’s a quick word on pattern sizing…

The sizing of Grasser patterns is slightly different from that of Vikisews. I always end up going up a size for tops by Grasser in comparison. Based on the finished measurements, I chose size 46, and it proved to be perfect for me. I took a little off the sleeve length (I can’t bear sleeves that go over my hands; they drive me bananas!), and as the top is designed fairly long, I took some off the body length, too (maybe an inch).

Making up the top was surprisingly easy. I sewed up the main seams using my overlocker with a four-thread setup, a nice wide cutting width, plus a bit of ease on the differential feed to prevent wavy seams. The fabric sewed up nicely, but then Merino jersey is so lovely to work with.

Putting the binding onto those cutouts was a task that I had to do quite early on in my project, and it proved to be a bit fiddly. I decided to do some of the sewing by hand so I could get the binding quite narrow, and I’m glad I did because I love how it looks.

Now, I strayed a bit from the methods used for anchoring the scarf on the side of the neck. If you look at the next image from the pattern instructions, you’ll see that there’s supposed to be a loop attached at the shoulder that the back scarf’s end threads through.

Also, the cutout at the back is meant to be open at the neck edge, and for me, it seemed to open that area up too much. I ended up handstitching the cutout closed at the neck edge to tighten everything up.

To go one step further, I was struck with inspiration, and after a quick rummage through my button and buckle tin, I found the perfect buckle to use at the neckline instead of a bulky knot. I adore how the buckle looks, and it secures the scarf so well. I couldn’t be more pleased with the finished result 🙂

There are asymmetric gathers on the left hip seam, and I think it’s quite a flattering feature. In fact, overall, I’m really quite chuffed with how this top turned out. I think the top almost has a 70’s vibe, with its scarf detail.

This top is a bit on the dressier side, so I think it’ll be perfect to wear to a restaurant because all of the lovely detail will be visible above the table. I took the photos wearing my olive jeans that I was wearing at the time, but I’m envisaging pairing the top with my dressy wide-leg wool pants or my long bias skirt.

I bought plenty of the fabric, and there’s enough left over for a sleeveless top, so I’m stoked about that as I won’t be wasting any. Love getting my money’s worth, don’t you?

Thanks as always, for stopping by for a read. I’ll see you next time!