Strappy Top made with FS Love Bird Midweight Linen

Once again my daughters found the cutest top on instagram and asked “Do you think you can make this Mom?” Challenge accepted! This piece seemed like a small amount of fabric held together by tiny straps. I actually made two of these – one for Amanda and one for her friend. Thankfully they have similar measurements. Both are happy to have a no bra type top for the hot Florida summer so I knew I’d cut two of the main fabric pieces for “lining”. Yes, I do realize that there is probably a bust size that this top would stop supporting even if you add to the side width (which you can) so this one isn’t for everyone but I hope that sharing this will inspire creativity in shape or color!

Strappy Top made with FS Love Bird Midweight Linen

Strappy Top made with FS Love Bird Midweight Linen

Love Bird is so lovely. It’s not super yellow when you hold it next to butter yellows but it’s also not totally neon green. It’s like the color of a parrot that you can only find in a tropical rainforest. Technically, you could probably say it is chartreuse but I like my rainforest comparison more. What I do know even more is that this summer I have really gotten behind the bright bold color trend and my daughters and I have been very happy with that decision.

Right away I addressed the straps. I knew I would use my single fold bias tape maker and the fabric wouldn’t even need to be cut on the bias because I didn’t need it to lend itself to curves. So I cut straight strips at 1.25 inches and ran it through the bias tape maker and pressed (or ironed) as I went. I wasn’t sure how many yards of this I needed so I just attached 3 strips of the 59 inches wide linen. I divided this into two long pieces and we ended up cutting away after tying the bow in the back to get our desired length.

Then for the main part of the top, I used a piece of tissue paper to judge the shape we wanted on the dress form to make a very rough pattern. You can always do this in a mirror on your own body to make a rough pattern if you don’t have a dress form or mannequin. I cut two of these main pieces on a fold. The top criss cross straps are fixed in place and the bottom two crossed straps are fixed on the top but the bottom is a little loop created with 2 inch loops made from a cutting of the strap. The straps and loops were pinned to the right side of the outer layer and then sandwiched in between the outer layer and lining, pinned all the way around then I sewed all the edges leaving a 3 inch opening in the bottom and then flipped the top right side out and finished the bottom with a top stitch.

This is definitely one of those “One Yard Projects” OR you should order a little extra of this Love Bird Linen to make a simple pair of elastic waist shorts and have a cute summer set.

*The top featured on the dress form is FS Safari Softened Linen.