Matchy Matchy Collage Gather Top

I bought this after viewing an example made in Kaffe Fasset fabric. I prefer it made in very light lawn. I lengthened the side top pieces to drop the gathers below my bust. I also lowered the neckline and lengthened the whole top slightly. It is very successful with high waisted skirts or the pietra trousers. I recommend this pattern, because it helps use up little bits of Liberty lawn. Indeed several friends have made multiple versions, for this very reason.

I really love the collage gather top from Match Matchy Sewing Club. I love the patchwork clothing look and I have made various attempts at patchwork clothing, but I have to say the Collage Gather is definitely my most successful project. It is kind of trickier than it looks to make patchwork clothes I have found and so working with a pattern than is designed with this technique in mind makes the whole process much easier. The top comes together very quickly and it is a fun process picking fabrics for the various panels. My main tip is to make sure that all of your fabrics are the same or similar in weight. I also found this pattern runs a little small at the arm hole, I made my size according to bust measurements in a toile but needed to size up as I found the arm a little restricting. I also think the top looks better loose and floaty so glad I went up that one size. I can definitely see myself making a few of these in the future - I recommend this as a really fun and sustainble pattern.

Didn’t think I could justify another summer top but I love it. Guthrie and Ghani linen. I made size according to my measurements and it is exactly as expected. Can’t wait for hot weather as this will be perfect. It also works with long sleeved too underneath.
instructions were good and I loved the labels to add to each piece, especially useful if using scraps.
very quick to make
I’ll be making more.

I have come to actually love making garments from @matchymatchysewingclub top and my other favourite, the Peplum Split Tank are genuinely fun (and easy) to make. For this, my first Collage top, I sized down, as I had needed to do that on the peplum tank. This isn’t as oversized though, so I will make the recommended size for my measurements in future (there will be several more of these in my future). I will also lengthen it 2/3” so that I can do a little French tuck. Here I used the fabulous and popular Lady McElroy ‘Dip in the Lake’ fabric in cotton lawn. I was fortunate enough to bag a 0.7mtr remnant from Hey Sew Sister. The contrasting fabric is Nani Iro double gauze from Guthrie Ghani.

This was the perfect pattern to experiment with using four different prints. I don't usually mix so many prints but I decided to challenge myself, inspired by the Color Me Kaffe Challenge.

It's a simple pattern - with just a few pattern pieces - center front and back, right and left shoulder pieces, cuff, bottom panels, and bias binding for the neckline (no facing).

This pattern is a great stash buster. You could use a variety of scraps to make a top, play around with different combinations. You could pick a different fabric for each piece.

I used three fat quarters and bought about 1.5 yard of another fabric because I really didn't know how much fabric I would need for the center front/back. A fat quarter isn't big enough for the longest pattern piece - the center front/back. But you could certainly color block it and use as many fabric pieces as you want for those pattern pieces.

Pattern changes: I made a slight square shoulder adjustment (I didn't make a muslin - this was my first version). And I color-blocked two of the gathered panels because I didn't have enough of the fat quarter so I had to piece together two different fabrics.  I also color-blocked the cuffs using three different fabrics.

Conclusion: A fun and easy make. It's a boxy top and I used quilt-weight fabric, which doesn't have much drape. The hand of your fabric definitely affects how this top will lay against your body.