The Calvin Crop
Evan and I are thrilled to introduce our latest sewing pattern design, The Calvin Crop! This garment is designed with simplicity and elegance in mind. It’s the perfect elevated basic to add to your current wardrobe! We've put our hearts and souls into creating a pattern that's not only easy to sew, but also offers a timeless design that you can enjoy for many years to come.
As passionate creators, we always strive for perfection, and sometimes that means making tough decisions. We wanted to address a question that some of you may have been wondering: why didn't we include an open-back option in the pattern file like we’d intended and originally posted about on Instagram?
Well, let's get right into it. When designing the top, the intention was for the open back option to be tied loosely at the back. It was part of the effortless aesthetic we were going for; however, during testing, we quickly found that tying the garment tight was necessary for folks with larger busts. A corset style top is actually the opposite of effortless in nature, so to some degree, it felt like we were trying to achieve the impossible.
Tying the garment tightly, instead of loosely as originally intended, ultimately resulted in fit issues. We spent countless hours fine-tuning the design, trying to make it fit seamlessly into our pattern. But, after careful consideration and feedback from our testers, we realized that we weren't 100% happy with the fit and overall look of the open-back option. Our commitment to delivering the best quality patterns possible led us to make the tough decision not to include it in the pattern.
That said, we know that many of you were excited about the open back style and that you may still be interested in experimenting with it, even if it didn't quite meet our standards to be included in the pattern. That's why we've decided to offer JUST the open-back pattern piece for free in this blog post!
If you're up for a sewing adventure and want to try your hand at creating a Calvin Crop with an open back, you're in luck because we’ve got the fully graded pattern piece ready for you to experiment with. We believe in the power of creativity and personalization, and we can't wait to see how you make The Calvin Crop your own!
We also have some fun ideas that you might want to try out:
1. One of our testers, Yoanna, gathered the center back seams and it looks stunning! Check out her out on Instagram @yoannas_studio!
2. Instead of gathering, you could also create a channel of elastic for a similar look as Yoanna’s top. Simply sew a channel at the center back of each side and thread elastic through it. Sew it down at the top and bottom of the channel for a gathered center back.
3. Another great option is to create a channel at the center back on each side and put ties through them. The ties would be sewn at the center top in the bias binding. Then instead of having long ties that go around your waist, you’d have ties hanging straight down that you could use to ruche the fabric and tie the back.
4. The last idea we have is to cut a piece of bias binding 1-2 inches shorter than the center back length. Then you’d bind the center back by stretching the bias across it. Some of our testers did this for their closed back version as well and it looked beautiful!
To get your hands on the open-back pattern piece, simply click this link to download it for FREE: Calvin Crop Open Back Pattern Piece ONLY
We hope this gives you the opportunity to explore different design possibilities while still enjoying the simplicity and elegance of The Calvin Crop. We appreciate your support and can't wait to see your beautiful creations. Don't forget to share your makes with us on social media using the hashtag #CalvinCrop and tagging Evan @evan.ihde and I @jessilous_closet.
We appreciate you and are so excited to see your beautiful makes!
