Summer Woven Tops

I love wearing knits and I really like tight fitting knits but they aren’t very forgiving for the female figure.  I tend to fluctuate up and down about 15 pounds throughout the year and when I’m up I don’t care for how the tight fitting knits look.  These woven summer tops are more forgiving of the ebb and flow of my exercise routine.

I’ve made quite a few woven summer tops recently and in the past year.  Here are the patterns I’ve used and the makes from them.

First up is . . . 

Simplicity 8642 has four sleeve options but this is the only one I’ve felt inspired to make.  I LOVE this sleeve but I don’t love the neckline.  The neckline is too high and confining.

I decided to try Simplicity 8602 next . . . I wanted to do view C but my copy of the pattern is missing the piece for that view’s sleeve ruffle.  I made it up at I went instead and ended up with this.

The ruffle looked matronly on the arm but even after I removed it I didn’t like the shirt.  It took me some time but I finally pin pointed that I didn’t like it because of the neckline.  So I redrafted the neckline and made it again in white.

I think this neckline is so much more flattering.  So I immediately made another . . .

This was a rem leftover from this make . . .

I LOVE this fabric and I’m excited to have a basic shirt out of it.

This week I whipped up yet another make from this pattern.  I once again used an adjusted neckline, but this time I made view A sleeve.

And then I decided I’d try the McCalls version of this shirt.  This pattern boasts slightly different sleeve choices and I was looking forward to trying a couple of them out.

First I made this shirt . . .

The sleeves are a little too tight and that wasn’t discovered until it was too late to let them out.  The sleeves are somewhat labor intensive.  I decided to finish the neckline with bias tape instead of a facing.

Overall, I’m content with the shirt and fit but not thrilled.  So I made another . . .

But this time I added an inch to each sleeve width and I love the fit.

Another woven shirt make from my year challenge is this one . . .

I haven’t remade this pattern since it forces me to wear a strapless bra when I wear it.

I drafted my own basic front for all of these patterns so that the bust dart is customized to me.  I made it a couple of times before I realized I needed to slow down and create a template for where a bust dart falls on my body.  Can you tell the difference?

That’s quite the round up of tops, pictures, and patterns.

What is your favorite summer fabric, woven or knit?  What are some of your favorite summer top patterns?