I would never forgive myself if I didn’t share this version of the Sporty Piko with you.  Much like this version, I sewed it up during testing and then let the pictures go to waste on my computer.  Whomp whomp.  But guess what 2019 Katy?  2020 Katy is here and she’s not letting you get away with things this time!  I need to tell you about the cuteness of this top.  I NEED to!

Are you on team “Leopard is a Neutral”?  I never thought I’d be this person.  I actually resisted the return of animal prints when it first started showing up a couple of years ago.  I think flashbacks of my middle school style in the 90’s was enough to keep me away.

And yet now, I have an embarrassing amount of things in my possession that are leopard print and I’m just accepting my fate.  LEOPARD ALL THE THINGS.

I’ve been keeping this random scrap of leopard sweater knit around for a super long time.  I used the original bit of fabric for this M4M Jamie and had a big enough scrap that I felt awful getting rid of it, but it was too small to really do anything with.

Thank the sewing gods for the invention of the cropped Sporty Piko.  Or I guess I should be thanking Judy for it.  Either way…I was so excited when I realized I could squeak this top out of it.  It also helped that I had a super cute french terry with these gold metallic stars printed on it.  Basically this combo made for the cutest, least neutral (even though leopard is a neutral) top ever.

Each time we release a new pattern, we try and come up with fun and easy ways to “hack” it into something a little different.  Or to use a new technique that isn’t covered by the pattern tutorial itself.  This is an example of one of those hacks…but you can’t exactly call me a brain child for this idea.  All I did was add elastic to the hem instead of a drawstring.  While not overwhelmingly creative, it was super quick to make and resulted in an adorable new piece of clothing.

Can we take a quick moment to talk about my friend Dani?  This beauty jokingly told me that she wanted this top while we were texting one day, so I not-so-jokingly sent it to her in the mail.  And then these photos happened.  I DIED when she posted them.  So funny.  It’s like a “who wore it better” but without the contest part because it’s clearly Dani.

Patterns: Sporty Piko by Patterns for Pirates
Fabric: Leopard Print Sweater Knit from ???