FAUX FUR CROP TOP | Wearologie Nivis

Wearologie Nivis Crop Top in faux fur

My dad told me that when I was a child, I used to walk up to ladies on the street and pet their fury coats. It was the 80s, so there were a lot of those going around, and I was 5, so it was cute, not creepy, but the point of the story is that pretty much all my life I have been attracted to soft, pettable materials.

And that is still the case, many many years later. I love soft fake fur, fleece, minky, that thing that fluffy dressing gowns are made of,  you name it, I want to just lovingly stroke it.

So of course that the last time I visited Abakhan with my friend Simona, who is a lucky devil for living 10 mins walk to the Bolton shop, I just could not stop myself from getting this piece of stripy micro-furry stuff (no idea what it’s called), like a faux fur, but with short, soft, lovely hairs. I have no idea if it mimics any real animal, but as soon as I laid my hands on it, I could not care less. It was less than a meter and I had no idea what it could be made into, but I just could not let go of it. So I brought it home with me.

But, what to make with it?

Enter my Nivis crop top, from the Swiss pattern company Wearologie. I am super happy with my choice, and I really did not want to take it off as soon as I put it together! It’s just so snugly that I wanted to keep hugging myself to feel the fabric.

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Pattern

Full disclosure: Coralie, the designer behind Wearologie, is a friend from the sewing community (we have never actually met in real life, but we have been online friends ever since I started the blog). She used to blog at Stitch-n-Smile, but then she graduated from Design school and started Wearologie. Please go read the blog, her story and journey are really lovely. She is also a fabulous illustrator – go check out the lovely illustrations she made for her #FabricShopsDirectory Geneva Guide.

Disclaimer: The pattern was offered to me as a free PDF. I was asked to link to the pattern company’s website and offer a discount code to my readers, therefore this post will qualify as an Ad. Please read my Reader Disclosure Policy for more details.

But if you like what you see, read until the end for a discount to try it out for yourself.

So, about Nivis…. It’s a beginner-friendly raglan top, and it has a 2 part sleeve, which I loved. It’s meant for layering, so I had a lightbulb moment that I could use my furry little piece of fabric to make a sort of over-cape/top/jumper/something stylish and warm to wear over thinner shirts or dresses for winter. Because of the 2-part sleeve, it sort of made me think of outerwear, so I just went for it.

I am wearing it over a turtleneck top here, as that’s how I pictured it when I first imagined making it.

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I have to give a shout out to the PDF layout. This is definitely the nicest looking and easiest to assemble PDF pattern I have ever used. Ok, there are only 12 pages, but it’s a thing of beauty. Coralie really thought about every single thing that would make your life easier. It has letters for the vertical joining and numbers for the lateral ones, so there is no way you can mistake the order of assembly.

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Wearologie Nivis Crop Top - PDF example

Fit & Alterations

I cut it 2 sizes bigger, especially to compensate for the under-layers and the fact that it’s meant for knits and my fur is not too stretchy.

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Construction

It’s a super quick and easy make, great for a beginner with sewing knits. The instructions are very easy to follow (though I must admit, I only had a cursory glimpse to make sure of the order of construction).

Because of my choice of fabric, I deviated from the instructions when it came to the finishing. Coralie recommended finishing the neckline with a neckband and a fold & topstitch with a twin needle for the sleeve edge and hemline. But I ended up finishing the inside of the sleeves with a strip of bias binding and leaving the neckline and hemline raw. I had used bias binding there as well, but I didn’t like the way it looked, so I took it off. I slightly stretched (on purpose) both the neckline and the hemline to get a bit of a roll, and I really like the effect. It makes it look even furrier.

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I also liked that there are loads of notches, especially needed to ease in the sleeves.

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Wear & Style

I always envisaged wearing this on top of something, ideally with long sleeves and a collar or turtleneck, for them to come out of the slightly wider, cropped sleeves of Nivis and the wider neckline without the neckband.

However, the one time I wore it, it was actually on top of a tight sleeveless sheath dress, going for a slightly Jackie O look. Unfortunately, no pics, but it did look quite fetching, got loads of compliments at work.

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For this shoot, I wore it with a pencil skirt, a pleated woollen skirt and my favourite high-waits trousers. All good choices!

As I may have mentioned before, I am not a crop top kind of person, but in this case, I feel it was a very sewrendipitous marriage of fabric and pattern and I ended up with a garment that I feel will get a lot of wear! Not not just because it’s so snugly!

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If you want to give Wearologie a go too, Coralie kindly offered all you lovely readers a discount code for your very own copy. Enter SEWRENDIPITY-NIVIS25 at check out for a 25% discount.

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Details recap:

Pattern: Wearologie Wearologie – size E (in PDF)

Fabric: short pelt faux fur, Abakhan Bolton

Notions: bias binding

Alterations: omitted neckline binding and left edges raw

Next time:  Make it in knits with neckband

Other versions: Ines25’s African wax print on Burda Style community and Ilona’s brocade version on her blog (in Russian)

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WHAT DO YOU THINK OF FAUX FUR? DO YOU THINK YOU COULD INTEGRATE A CROP TOP IN YOUR WARDROBE? LET ME KNOW THE COMMENTS OR TWEET OR IG ME @SEWRENDIPITY!

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11 Comments

  1. 12 January 2018 / 2:11 PM

    I thought it was just me that adored anything furry, fluffy and soft…glad to hear that I’m in good company πŸ™‚ Your cropped Nivis is really fab and as always I love your styling..those boots too!

    • Alex
      Author
      12 January 2018 / 2:13 PM

      Thank you, Diane! 😘 Those are my fav shoes, because I got them in the sale for £12, reduced from £99! And they are super comfy.

  2. 12 January 2018 / 5:44 PM

    What a great fabric! I can tell from here that I would definitely want to pet your top, LOL. (When I helped out at a vintage shop, I would always pet the furs every time I passed by them! πŸ˜‰ ) I love the idea of wearing this top over a fitted sheath dress–not at all surprising that you got compliments!

    • Alex
      Author
      13 January 2018 / 6:50 PM

      Thank you for your comment! People at work were a bit embarrassed to ask, but I think they wanted to pet it too :). I will try to post a pic in IG when I wear that combo again, so you will be able to judge for yourself.

  3. 13 January 2018 / 12:08 AM

    awesome fabric… beautiful

    • Alex
      Author
      13 January 2018 / 6:47 PM

      Thank you kindly!

  4. 13 January 2018 / 12:56 PM

    What a lovely top! It looks sooo snuggly. I had to laugh because my son does that – I’m constantly apologising to ladies who turn round to see who’s stroking them πŸ˜‚ X

    • Alex
      Author
      13 January 2018 / 6:47 PM

      Thank you! That’s really funny, how old is he? You must make him something of his own to enjoy all the time :).

      • 14 January 2018 / 12:48 AM

        He’s 5, he always goes to sleep with a soft toy and sometimes I find him in my wardrobe with my faux fur coat πŸ˜‚. You’re right, I should make him a fur-lined jacket or something!

  5. 13 January 2018 / 3:21 PM

    Wow! I love that top, and personally, I give all things furry a big thumbs up! It’s hard to find Fabric as lovely as yours and I love how you’ve styled your new make…got to run to the Fabric store to see if I can find something fun too;)

    • Alex
      Author
      13 January 2018 / 6:46 PM

      Thank you so much! I’m so glad so many of my sewing friends are in the ‘furry’ camp too :). Great minds and all that, ha ha! I think finding this fabric was a complete fluke, this shop I mentioned in the North of England is a treasure trove. It would be awesome to see what you might end up making with your furry find :).

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