Style Arc Summer Cover Up

It seems that cover ups and kaftans/caftans are popping up around the sewing world at the moment.  Closet Case Patterns have just released one and Goodbye Valentino recently posted how to draft your own.  It makes sense, they are pretty easy to make and you can go quite wild with prints and trims!  I made this one a few weeks ago for a short resort holiday to celebrate my birthday.

Style Arc Summer Cover Up Link to Pattern

I know I say this a lot, but the fabric was another "oh my gosh I must buy it and figure out what to do with it later" purchases.  It is a silk printed with a sunset and palm trees with an ombre effect.  I actually decided to use the reverse side which is more matte and with more intense colours.

I know that silk is probably not the most practical choice for a cover up, but the reality is it won't get worn that often and it just felt like this was the perfect use for the print.  I would like to make it again in the shorter version in a more practical cotton someday.

Reverse side

Right side

I made a couple of minor changes to the pattern.  I raised the neckline around 2cm at the base of the V tapering to nothing at the shoulders.  I know I'll be wearing it over swimwear so it doesn't really matter if it shows, but that's just my preference.

I also eliminated the centre front and back seams on the bodice, but getting a nice sharp point on the front neckline would probably be much easier with a centre seam so I will leave it in next time.  I also didn't want any stitching showing round the neckline so have just secured the neck facing at the shoulder seams.

The waist seam of the bodice has a 2.5cm seam allowance to form the casing for the drawstring so unfortunately I lost some of the ombre effect and there is quite a difference between the colour of the bodice and skirt.  It's not quite how I envisaged it, but I still like it.

Here I am wearing it swanning about at a resort in Vietnam - hopefully it won't be too long before I can pull it out again!