Scrolling on Pinterest and window shopping at the many sites I like to browse all had a very popular cut of blouse: the linen tie top. This shirt has an apron style and instead of being sewn at the sides, you simply tie the back and front together.
However, there were a few things that popped in my head when I thought about purchasing a shirt like this:
- Why is such a simply structured top, so expensive? Most of the ones I found available for purchase were $50 – $150.
- Why are there so many linen blends? I only want 100% linen. I’m tired of buying clothes that are mainly plastic.
- I’ve never sewn clothes before, but I’ve quilted. How different could this be? The pattern seems like it would be very simple and the adjustable ties mean I don’t have to get the fit just right
All of this to say, I think I could just crank out one of these tops in an afternoon, how hard could it be?
Equipment
I already had all the equipment for this since I’ve done some sewing before. This would definitely be the greatest barrier to this project.
- Sewing machine
- Iron
- Measuring tape/ruler
- Fabric Scissors
- Pins/Fabric Clips
- Seam ripper (I needed this a lot)
- Loop turner (I used a a chopstick and a safety pin. I wish I would have had this)
- Printer + paper. This is dependent if you download a pattern and print it yourself, or if you find an already made pattern in a fabric store.
Materials
Here’s where it gets fun! Pick a pattern and fabric you love.
- Pick a pattern. I chose the Side Tie Top Pattern from AuraPatterns off Etsy. This cost me about $3
- Fabric*. The pattern of your choosing will indicate how much fabric to get. For my pattern it was 1.4 yds. I rounded up to account for mistakes I could make. I purchased 2 yds and this came out to around $25
- Thread + bobbins. A spool of thread is around $3.
Cost breakdown: $31
*A note on fabric: Pay attention to your fabric descriptions. There are a lot of fabrics that are titled “linen” but upon looking at the material description were actually a linen/polyester blend. For myself I wanted natural fibers, so I chose something that listed 100% linen.
Making the Tie Top
The pattern and reviews stated that this was about an hour long project. All the steps seemed easy enough for this to be accurate. With this being my first clothes project, I checked the expectations for myself that it would probably take me an extra hour or so.
Following the tie top pattern was easy enough as the download also included instructions on how to complete the steps. Simply put, the steps included:
- Printing the sewing pattern and taping it together.
- Ironing the fabric. Linen gets particularly wrinkly. Ironing ensures you’re making accurate cuts.
- Cutting the fabric according to the sewing pattern. This is where you can customize what you’re making. From the pictures on the pattern reviews, I determined I should cut the top longer as I didn’t want the tie top as cropped.
- Sewing the fabric straps and turning them inside out. Here’s where I learned a lesson or two.
- Sewing everything together!
Lessons Learned
Overall I really wish I would have gave myself more time for this project. The project its self was really simple, however, I got caught up in the straps.
The straps you sew right sides together, flip inside out, tuck the raw edges, and sew the edges closed. This took me FOREVER to figure out; nothing was working. It is really difficult to turn a skinny piece of fabric inside out. I eventually found a hack to take a safety pin to turn it inside out. Then, I encountered the issue of tucking the ends back in. This is where I used a chopstick to shove the fabric back in. This also took forever and was really frustrating. I will be purchasing a loop turner to make this process easier in the future. I’ve also seen people using bias tape to make this step easier.
Another lesson would be to make sure I am tucking in the straps the same width as my seam allowance. With this pattern, the sewn ends get sandwiched between two front pieces and the two back pieces. As seen in the picture, the end poked out when I went to flip the garment right side out. This caused me to trim pieces that I had sewn too far past the seam allowance.
Final Thoughts
Although I had some hiccups, I learned a lot for my first time and know how to make a sewing project smoother in the future. Over the span of a couple days, I spent 5-6 consecutive hours on this project in total. This time included ironing the fabric, fixing sewing machine issues, re-cutting fabric, seam ripping, and re-sewing fabric.
For around $30, I spent time spent increasing my skills, and ending up with a linen tie top that looks just like those selling for around $100. I am really pleased with the outcome and look forward to the next sewing project!
