We have a suburb in Perth called “Malaga” but it has nothing to do with this top! I bought the Yuki Waffle Malaga pleated hem top pattern whilst I was in the US recently and knew the minute I saw it that it would fit right in with my very retired lifestyle.

Then I went stash diving and came up with a lovely cotton terry knit which I bought at Mood Fabrics on my previous visit to New York. Definitely time to make this fabric up!

Here is my first attempt.

I made the pattern up according to the instructions, which include facings on the hem and sleeve hems. I was very dubious about this as I figured the fabric would be really thick if I made it up as per the instructions, and so it proved. I also decided that I should have graded the pattern in a couple of sizes at the hip as it seemed quite wide. I whipped inside, undid the tacking, ran in the side seams, and laid the hem facing flat with no fold.

This was better, but I still had that fluted hem effect. 

This time I unpicked the entire thing, removing the hem facing altogether. I then simply turned the hem under and coverstitched it. I probably should do the same with the sleeve hems as they flute out a bit, but I’m ready to move on!

It’s not wonderful as I’ve probably stretched the bottom out, but I can now live with it.

So, what do I think about this pattern? I still like it and am keen to make another. I love the hemline although I would consider lengthening the front a bit, but if I don’t wear the tightest of ponte pants, it’s not really an issue. There are some nice little features. I like the tucks at the hem and sleeve cuffs. The pattern is really designed for a woven and I wonder how many of my issues were caused by the stretchy fabric I used. There are two necklines as shown in the line drawing below.

I love both versions, but chose to make the high necked one for winter with the curved back view.  The top has raglan sleeves, which I like and lots of topstitching/coverstitching opportunities. There is a zip, which I could probably have done without, but it’s useful if I can leave my glasses on when I am constantly taking a top off to modify it!

The pattern was easy to sew and would have taken a couple of hours from start to finish if I hadn’t fiddled around so much. There is a tartan version on the website and this is the one that attracted me to the pattern in the first place, so I might just be making this again in a lovely fabric that will need epic pattern matching!

[Later update: the red cowl is one that I arm knitted. It is a mixture of red t-shirting cut into strips, red fabric strips, red wool and red roving. Happily the colours all match pretty well, but it’s also nice if they don’t!]