A while ago, I wrote a review of Grainline Studio’s Linden Sweatshirt (obviously, it was glowing since I’ve made five in total so far). Last week, I wrote about the tester I made and immediately fell in love with. Today, I’m telling you all about Linden #2: the bicycle top.

I bought the grey bicycle print fabric while on vacation in Germany last year. I’m fairly certain it came from this shop in Wuerzburg, but I’m going by memory and google maps, so I could be wrong. At the time, I was having a really, really hard time finding quality knits in Ottawa and could only ever find solids at that, which basically meant that I bought any and all jersey prints I came across that summer.

This fabric had been slated for a few projects before becoming a Linden. I knew I wanted to save this fabric for something I would get tons of wear out of . At first, I thought it would be a babywearing sweater for me, but then I realized I wouldn’t wear it without the baby, so that was a no-go. Then, I thought I would use it to make a maternity top, but couldn’t bear the thought of putting it away after the baby was born. After that, I thought I might make a zip-up hoodie, but then realized I hated things with hoods.

And then, I discovered the Linden sweatshirt! I feel like the Linden is the perfect top for showing off a fun print as it’s a super simple design and ultra wearable. The Linden also offers multiple options in terms of contrasting parts. I decided to go for a sort of colour-blocked look with two stripes of grey at the sides (sleeves and cuffs) and grey down the middle with the collar band and hem band.

My first Linden was somewhat boxy and I knew I wanted a slightly more slim fit, so I sliced down to a size 10 on the bust and sleeves, left it a 16 at the hip and trimmed the hem band to a size 14. I did this to have it fit at the hip without clinging. When I tried it on, I noticed it bagged out funny a bit and figured I used too steep a curve when grading it. I was prepared to take off and re-make the hem band if necessary (This, kids, is why you keep scraps), but tried serging down the bubbly bit and made quick work of the solution.

I’m quite happy with the result and have been wearing this top on repeat! It makes me feel better not being able to bike while the baby is little. Come back next week to see how my elbow patch hack!