Monstera Lou Box Top

Hey there! I'm hoping to blog a bunch and get caught up on all the things I made at the end of last year, plus what I'm making so far this year. I'm out of practice, so please wish me luck. 

This is a favorite shirt that I made last year, the Lou Box Top from Sew DIY. The fabric is a rayon lawn from Cotton & Steel. As expected, it is great fabric. The unusual substrate is really nice for shirts. It's less drapey than rayon challis but drapier than cotton lawn. It's really easy to work with (not slippery) and it hangs really nicely (not clingy and not stiff).

Click here to find it on Fabric.com (affiliate link).

I originally made View A, the straight hem version of this shirt, but it was too cropped for me! I tried it with all my high-waisted jeans and pants and it was just too short for my taste. Why didn't I measure first? I had made a different version before, which was long enough (did I add length to that one and not change the pattern? It's possible). I was in a hurry to make and wear this shirt, since I loved the print so much. And I guess since Beth, the pattern designer, is tall, I thought it might fit me without alteration, but I should have measured. Of course she makes patterns for average-height people, not just for herself :)

I love this fabric and wasn't about to let my too-short shirt hang unworn in my closet, so I decided to add a band to the bottom of the shirt. Can you see it in the photos? It's not that obvious because of the busy leaf pattern of the fabric. 

I looked in my fabric stash for a complementary fabric to use, but I didn't find anything I liked for the band. Black would have been nice, but only if it matched perfectly and was a similar substrate. Nope - I didn't have anything that would work. 

I'm happy with the matching band, but I would have been happier if I'd added a couple inches of length to begin with! *Note to myself and my tall friends, measure first, please.

I love this shirt and plan to make a bunch more Lou Box Tops (remembering to add length!). I'll also buy more rayon lawn, if Cotton & Steel add more prints to the line.