The Laura Top has become my uniform while teaching classes, I just love it so much so thought I would share the process of creating it with you. I have been following @namaste_and _crochet on Instagram since I first started crocheting and fell in love with their designs. They have a real boho crochet feel to them with the most stunning crochet dresses you will ever see. The designer for Namastae and Crochet is Dominique Calvillo and she also does commissions for red carpet events and brides.
You can purchase the pattern for this top direct from their website www.namasteandcrochet.com it was about $13.50 once converted into NZ dollars. The pattern is then an instant download as a PDF file.
I made the size small and the pattern called for 722 yards of sports weight cotton yarn. Sports weight yarn is considered a 5ply and is really hard to come by in New Zealand, 4ply cotton would be too fine so I went looking for a 8ply that didn’t look too thick. I ended up using the Rowan Summerlite dk cotton in colour pink powder and cost me about $9 a ball and I ended up using 6 balls which was more than the pattern recommended for my size.
The hook size recommended was a 4.25mm but because I was using thicker yarn I had to go down to a 3.75mm to meet the Gauge. Remember if you are making garments gauge is everything I feel like I might need to teach a class just on finding the right yarn for a pattern and making gauge swatches.
What I really loved about this pattern is that the foundation chain was done by measuring the distance from your collarbone to your waist than, chain in multiples of 6. Means you can customise this to any length that you want. The design is than done by making two identical front and back panels, joining them together and adding the sleeves.
I found the main part of the pattern really easy to follow although I would get a little confused sometimes on rows 3 and 6 on where to place the first stitch but could clearly see at the end of the row when I got this wrong as the pattern of stitches would be off. But once I got the hang of it you are just repeating the same pattern of rows. The panels became a lovely meditation of being just different enough to keep it interesting but not too hard that I had to look at the pattern the whole time.
The sleeves were really easy because the lace chains worked up quickly, the ruching on sleeves is something that I have never done before so I had to read through this section of the pattern a couple of times to understand what I was doing. But you are basically gathering the sleeve from the inside to pull it together using a series of Ch 2 skipping stitches than a single crochet. The sleeves are my favourite part of this top and I get so many compliments on them. One thing to note is my ruching on the shoulder seam is a little lower on one side than the other so my next attempt at this top will take the time to make sure this is even.
Hope this is helpful and you decide to give this pattern a go, it really is my favourite item I have made to wear.
Happy Crocheting
Jasmine xx