and a linen top to match
Linen pants weren’t enough for one mostly vacation week, I also got to make a matching tank top (and a buncha masks but who counts those, not me)!
the only shot in which you can make out the darts
The pattern: a super simple 60s era overblouse, view C (Shallow neckline). A bust 32 pattern, so grading involved, and though i’ve started to get a good system down for slash-and-spread, this actually ended up being one of the two trickiest steps because i was a dummy and traced the pattern onto parchment paper. Don’t do that. Parchment paper is wonderful for baking because its coating basically won’t stick to anything. Like tape, or glue, or superglue, or super-duper tape. I ended up slashing and spreading on top of a piece of wrapping paper, to which i was able to lightly affix the little pieces, and then trace. Which I guess is sort of what you’re “supposed” to do, but I really enjoy having all my pattern edits reflected in the piece of paper, so I would normally tape in long strips between the spread sections. I graded up 4”, so an easy 1” on each piece, divided into two 1/4” increases and one 1/2” increase.
Cutting led to my next little adventure, in that…
I didn’t grade the facings, I just traced off a new all-in-one facing pattern onto the fabric from the cut out fabric back piece… but at one point i started to cut facing length INTO MY EXISTING BACK PIECE oh my gosh. One clean slice. But several inches long, on both sides. Now, I was working with scraps from the Calyer pants project so there really wasn’t any going and cutting out a new piece (not that I ever really give myself much in the way of wiggle room), so instead I just did a short but wide zig-zag the whole length of the cut with a little piece of fabric reinforcing it at the back (which I then trimmed away mostly) and so there’s sort of just something that almost looks like back darts or extra long bar tacks or who knows - just a visible mend.
side view to peep that funny back slice/mend, which is infinitely more visible than the darts which were the whole reason i picked this specific pattern
OTHER THAN THAT this was a nice easy sew, and I like the fit. The neckline does gape a bit on me which seems to be a fairly common thing on this kind of neckline. I’m thinking of playing around with small darts… The other major issue is that the longer it goes between washes, the more it develops this weird horizontal wrinkle across the bust, below the dart apex. Sigh. Call it just part of the linen life?? (Help welcome, as always, on issues I point out myself, lol)
The lovely french darts really don’t have a visual pull in this linen, but I think they could look really lovely in something brighter, less wrinkling.
The hem is done with a machine blind stitch with a regular foot, so they’re vertical looking parallel stitches instead, and they bunch with wear, but what doesn’t on a linen tank top?? The main thing is that it’s summer weight and now i have a faux jumpsuit to wear! Works tucked, untucked, or, my up-to-the-minute-trendy preference, French-tucked.
Pattern: Butterick 3286 (circa 1965), view C
My Measurements: Full bust 36, waist 30
Size Made: Bust 36 (Graded from B32)
Fabric: Alexandria Lightweight Linen in Charcoal from Matchpoint
Next time: Watch where you’re cutting!!! Experiment with neckline fit to avoid gaping. Maybe invest in a blind hem foot. Figure out that wrinkle? It would be so nice to have a go-to tank of this style, but neither is a home run yet. (That said, this style of tank is so much my preference that that doesn’t really matter). Also: maybe do it with bias tape instead of facings!
