Fashion trends come and go, but style is forever, at least according to Yves St. Laurent, who, in 1975, said, “Fashions fade, style is eternal.” But if you are a follower of fashion, you’ll know that the great Coco Chanel expressed the same opinion years earlier when she famously said, “Fashion changes―style remains.” There are some “trends” that never leave us, which is what puts them in the style category. One of those is stripes.

Along with florals, Mom jeans and tie-dye pastels, stripes have once again this spring been sighted on the fashion runways. This variety of styles is terrific for those of us who sew because of all the great fabric choices we have. What’s more, once we’ve created our new striped, fashion-forward pieces, we can wear them from season to season.

This year, I decided to add a striped jersey top to my spring wardrobe. I landed on the perfect style for me with Burda 6427. Now all I needed was some fabric.

I’m a lover of natural fabrics, and I’m especially in love with bamboo. Lucky for me, Fabricville is offering a wonderful, soft bamboo jersey stripe (66% rayon from bamboo, 28% organic cotton, 6% spandex). I love working with bamboo, but it can be tricky if it’s lightweight. First, the consensus is that you shouldn’t wash bamboo jersey vigorously―that is, in a machine. In my experience, though, it can be washed and dried as usual but holds its shape better if it’s washed in the machine and laid flat to dry. I cut two 4-inch samples and did my laundry test.

The pictures don’t lie. One sample was machine-dried (the top one, of course!). The other wasn’t. There was no contest! I decided I’d prepare the fabric length by washing and hanging it to dry. It came out beautifully. Now it was time to cut it out.

Cutting out this fine jersey begs to be done in a single layer. I’d recommend this for two reasons. First, getting two halves of the fabric on the straight of grain is a challenge. Second, it’s easier to control the stretch as you cut if it’s single-layer. However, as usual, the main bodice pattern pieces are only halves. I created mirror images of each and taped them together for a complete front and back. I simply relaid the sleeve, flipping it over for the second sleeve.

As with jerseys in general, this fabric has a definite right and wrong side. When stretched, the fabric curls to the right side. To make it even easier, it has stripes that look slightly different on the wrong side.

Many sewists use a rotary cutter for fabrics like this knit, but I’m not a fan, so I used my finest shears, and it worked very well.

Working with this bamboo is a dream. With a new stretch needle, polyester thread and my trusty walking foot, this pattern was a breeze to create. I did shorten the ties by an inch-and-a-half since I didn’t like the proportion of the overly long ties. I finished all the interior seam allowances on the serger.

The fabric is perfect for any pattern with a drapey feature, like side shirring or, as in this case, a tie that pulls the fabric to one side. As for wearing comfort: it cannot be beaten!

And just so you can see that stripes belong near the water…(well, we can dream!)

For more of my sewing and style thoughts, you can visit me at gloriaglamont.com.

Pattern: BURDA – 6427 Top – Knotted Sleeves – Round Neckline  SKU:  0964270 https://fabricville.com/en/burda-6427-top-knotted-sleeves-round-neckline.html

Fabric: Bamboo organic jersey stripes – Steel  SKU:  ECM156-002 https://fabricville.com/en/bamboo-organic-jersey-stripes-steel.html