I’m currently still in summer sewing mode, are you? For my square necked top with button-back detail, I’ve adapted an old early 90s pattern used before for a striped linen dress. It’s vogue 8303 and although it was easy enough to shorten into a top, it was a little more complicated to create the button-back style that I wanted to try out.
You might actually recognise the fabric too because I’ve used it before in the Laetitia wrap skirt that I made a few weeks back. It’s a linen and rayon blend from Croft Mill and is so lovely and fluid in texture and really easy to work with (PS it also came in another colourway last year which I’ve used for my Fibremood Ezra skirt)
Fitwise, I didn’t have to do much because I had already adjusted my pattern for the original dress that I made, so I just had to shorten it for the length of the top.
I decided to make the back neck square as well as the front which made it easy to pop on over my head and as a result, I didn’t need to for the back fastening to button all the way up to the top.
The top couple of inches or so below the back neck are seamed up and I created the placket opening below that. I marked the centerline and then extended the pattern to create overlapping faced edges for the buttons and buttonholes. I ironed interfacing down each edge and had to clip it into the top corners to form that nice little extension.
I got my plain buttons from eBay seller Number-Sixty who I’ve bought from on several occasions and I’ve always been more than happy with my purchases.
Here are a couple of close-ups for those of you that love a bit of detail:
As we’re currently going through a heatwave I’ve styled the top with shorts in the photos (shot from the thighs up because I have an unsightly swollen knee that I injured a week or so ago and is not a pretty sight 🙂 ).
If I fancied creating a faux dress I could pop on the matching skirt with it. I love the feel of the fabric and it’s a very comfy top to wear. I’m also looking forward to styling it with jeans once the weather cools down a bit.
Ok, that’s it from me (short but sweet this week) I’ll see you soon and if you’re in the UK stay cool!
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Love that buttoned back and square neckline, Diane: very pretty top with nice detailing!
p.s. your heat wave is making international news here…
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Thanks ever so much, Joan.
Is it really? Wow. I think it’s because it’s never been quite so hot but also the fact that we aren’t geared up for it at all…no aircon in any homes and it’s a huge deal affecting our health and well-being. It’s always a humid heat here too. I slept in our living room on the ground floor last night as it was 32.5 celsius in our bedroom upstairs!
Such a lovely summer top! I hope that you’re surviving the dreadful heat you’re experiencing. Did you also make the shorts? I like the cut of them very much.
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Thank you, Kathy! Thankfully it’s cooled down today with a refreshing breeze and cloud.
I did make the shorts a long time ago though they started off as long trousers which I self-drafted. They didn’t hang very well at the back but as shorts they work really well.