Bert Knit Top from Style Arc

I felt a bit disappointed in myself when I got an email from WordPress telling me I’d posted 25 times in 2023. If someone had asked, I would have bet money that the number had been higher, but I guess not! Coming into 2024, I could certainly make a goal to post more often but if I was posting more often I’d have less time to sew and then I would have less things to post about. It would be a vicious cycle. Unfortunately, I can’t commit to more posts at this point in my life (there’s just not enough time in the day!!!) but I will try to continue posting with semi-regular regularity.

It happens that I make something, take photos of it, and then just never get around to writing a post for it. This is one such item-something I made in November that never got a dedicated post because it got swept under holiday stuffs. But here I am now, and hopefully this will count toward something!

The pattern is the Style Arc Bert Knit Top. Last winter, I wanted to make a pullover but never got around to it. This winter I decided it was now or never so I started looking around for a pattern. Luck smiled down on me when I got a gift card from Style Arc AND they were having a sale at the same time. I browsed through their patterns and picked this one-the Bert top-and paid some ridiculously low price for it too!

I was excited about fabric possibilities but then realized I had something right in my stash that would work nicely. The fabric is a bamboo and cotton stretch fleece that I bought from Blackbird 2 years ago. I also bought the coordinating ribbing. I used both the fleece and the ribbing on a mini cardigan for one of my girls but I was given a generous portion of fabric and had enough leftover to make this top.

The pattern calls for quite a bit of ribbing (nearly a full yard) and I kind of scoffed at the number but it’s an accurate estimate and I definitely didn’t have enough, so I opted to used the ribbing only on the cuffs and the waistband. Using it on the collar/placket would have looked awesome, but it wasn’t in the cards for this make.

I was going for cheap, so I just bought the single size PDF of the pattern, which comes with the size above it and the size below it. Honestly, you receive separate files for each size, so it’s not really conducive to blending sizes. It’s such an oversized fit though that I didn’t bother to worry about it and just made a straight size 10, no modifications.

This fabric is strange in that the greatest stretch actually happens along the grainline, rather than crossgrain as is the norm. I made a sweater out of the same fabric (different color) and when I realized the stretch all happened up/down instead of side to side, I was convinced I’d cut the sweater out wrong! But no, the fabric is just weird. So this time I made sure to cut my pattern pieces out on the crossgrain to have the greatest stretch where I want it.

Sometime in the last couple months I read a review of a Style Arc pattern (sorry, I don’t remember where it was!) that in talking about the instructions said something like, “the instructions, if you can call them that, are abysmal.” I laughed and laughed because this person’s review is not wrong. I got precisely two pages of very minimal instructions. Many things are omitted (like if you need to repeat a step with the opposite side) and there is absolutely no superfluity whatsoever.

The most difficult part for me was the placket and the instructions for the placket are as follows: “Sew the previously made tab into the “cut-out” section of the front body.” What more could be said?

Of course, Style Arc is kind of famous for their no hand holding policy on instructions, so this kind of vagueness is to be expected.

I did eventually figure it out, though it may very well be done incorrectly. So inserting the placket was a bit tricky (though it was made much easier by using interfacing, thank you!) and then adding an inside neck binding was also a bit of a struggle, mostly because I can’t recall ever having done it before and because when working with fluffy knits, bulk becomes an issue quickly. But the neck binding sure provides a nice finish, so I suppose that’s why I made it work.

So. The finished top. Oh, the things I could say but let’s start here: I don’t love this sweater but I also don’t hate it. Although it is comfortable and oversized and easy-all of which are things I feel personally committed to in my wardrobe choices-it just doesn’t feel completely my style. Even so, I’ve still been finding ways I enjoy wearing it, I’m just not totally in love.

The sleeves are huge. I feel like I should mention that. It’s absolutely the style it’s meant to be but I just thought I should, you know, put this out in the world.

A good thing about the top is that it is, in my opinion, totally hackable. I’ve pictured a color-blocked version (kind of like the Patagonia pullovers I’ve seen around), perhaps hacking it to have pockets in the side seams. I think a version in some sort of sherpa knit would also be awesome. So there are options and there’s potential. Perhaps my fabric choice and color were my (insignificant) downfall. Trying again might be worth it.

I found washing the garment made me like it a smidge more, as it created these wrinkles. I’m not always glad about wrinkles, but in this top, for some reason, the wrinkles add a bit of character and are a welcome addition. The placket is supposed to be accompanied by buttons/buttonholes but I didn’t have any in my stash that felt right. I started wearing the top regardless and I don’t think I miss the buttons, so it will probably remain buttonless. If I do end up making another Bert top, I might consider using snaps instead of buttons.

Pattern: Style Arc Bert Knit Top
Size: 10
Alterations: None
Fabric: Cotton and bamboo fleece knit with coordinating ribbing from Blackbird Fabrics
Cost: Pattern $3; (I don’t know if I should call the fabric “stash fabric” since I used it for another project first, but here’s the info regardless) 2 yards fleece for $30; ribbing $5; thread, interfacing in stash
Would I make this again?: I think so, though it’s not at the top of my list