Dressing up my culottes with a cropped Kanerva |

Now this was the top I’d originally intended to wear with my culottes, before I was seduced by the novelty factor. If you look closely, you can see the back buttons match those on my waistband. This time, I’ve glamorised the old culottes a little with some sky high heels and a cropped Kanerva by Named.

I really like the Kanerva top. My first one was made in a lovely Liberty of London from Tessuti. It fits well enough but I was keen to try it in a fabric with more stretch. I chose a lightweight ponte knit for this version, purchased online from Fabric.com.

Ponte knit is so comfortable and practical to wear and it suits the Kanerva perfectly. The cropped version is a great length for me as it is short, but doesn’t really show any tummy if you wear a high waist pant (bear in mind that I am 5″10 so the cropped version will come down longer on some). I made a few small changes to the pattern again this time. I started with a size 40, then:

lengthened the arms by 3cm
took about 2cm off the front neckline and shoulder seams
dropped the back neckline by 1cm
narrowed the waist a little by taking 1cm off each side seam
I also removed the front waist dart and increased the bust dart ever so slightly
I cheated with the back. The buttons are just for show. I overlapped the back edges to keep the centre back where it should be, and created two seams (one false) on each side. I then sewed the buttons straight down the middle without buttonholes.