We love to work with yarn dyed’ mid weight linens we carry at fabrics-store.com. This fabric has gorgeous depth’ of colour due to threads’ dyed separately before being woven together into a sheet of fabric. This fabric especially elevates simple designs with clean lines such as this off-duty top’ detailed only with simple pretty buttons on the back. Wear yours with jeans and heels or roll the cuffs and style it’ with cropped jeans and sneakers.

Materials

1.5 ‘ yards of ILO42 909 FS Premier Finish
Matching sewing thread
5 buttons

Tools

Pattern master, pattern paper
Paper scissors, fabric scissors
Fabric marker, pins, tape measure
Buttonhole sewing foot, seam ripper, hand sewing needles

Time

3-4′ hours

Difficulty

Intermediate

Steps

Note: Prewash your fabric and tumble dry it until it is still slightly moist, let it’ dry in room temperature.

1. Iron the fabric so it is easier to work with.

Pattern

3. Use a serger, or choose your own method to protect the seams from fraying. Make sure the method you choose does not add weight to the fabric.

4. With the right side of the front panel facing you, place’ both back panels on top with their wrong sides facing you. For this tutorial we placed the wider back panel on the left side, so once sewn together and with its right side facing outwards, the wider back panel will be on the right side of your back.

5.’ Pin together the shoulder seams, stitch along and press open.

6.’ Match the notched centre point of the sleeve to the sewn shoulder seam, pin along the whole width of the sleeve panel. Stitch along, but leave 3/8 in (1cm) of the material unsewn at both ends of the sleeve panel.

7.’ Pin together the sleeve seam as well as the bodice side seam with the wrong side facing outwards. Stitch along the pinned edge and press open.

8. Next you will begin to work on the interfacing panels.

9. Pin them together as shown in the photos below. These are panels that you will sew’ along all the open seams of the bodice, to strengthen the edge of your top. For the back collar interfacings, we have sewn the wider back panel so that it is on the right side of the back, now make sure you pin the wider back collar panel on the right side of the layout with its wrong side facing you.

10. Stitch along all the pinned edges and press them open.

11. With the right side of the top facing outwards, lay the newly sewn interfacing ‘structure’ along the top, and make sure the wrong side is facing you.

12. Pin along the outside edges, along the centre back opening, the collar, and the bottom hem as shown below.

13. Stitch along all seams and press them’ open.

14. Make small slits around the collar to prevent excess material collection once you turn the panels the right way round.

15. Trim the corners as well, this will also prevent excess material.

16. Turn the whole interfacing ‘structure’ the right way round, so it lays on the inside of the top.

17. Pin the interfacing where the seams of the bodice are connecting to secure into place.

18. Following this tutorial, create the right amount of button holes on the thinner back panel, for me, it is the left back panel.

19. Following this tutorial, sew on the buttons onto the wider back panel, and for me it is the right back panel.

20. Finally, hand stitch the interfacing where it meets the seams of the top, this would be twice around the collar, as well as twice around the bottom hem. This helps to keep the interfacing in place so it doesn’t make an unwelcoming appearance.

21. Lastly, press the 3/8 inch (1cm) of seam allowance around the sleeves inwards onto its wrong side, and top stitch over this.

We love’ our yarn dyes, but there is nothing stopping you from’ choosing your own personal preference from our’ plethora of linen‘ we have available!