Navy Linen Cielo Top
My past sewing experience with linen wasn’t so great. The Linen Dress was my first 100% linen project to sew. Although I loved the shape of the dress and the colour of the fabric, it didn’t get much wear.
It was mostly because I chose mid-weight linen for a trapeze dress which requires plenty amount of fabric. It resulted in a heavy dress that wasn’t super comfortable to wear.
The linen fabric itself had a nice quality and would have been great for a different project like jackets, pants, and maybe even bags. Just my choice of the pattern and the fabric wasn’t the best match.
Another thing that made me stay away from sewing linen for a while was that linen frayed so much!
But I still love the texture of linen. Nothing is quite as perfect as linen for summer clothes, so I’m giving it another try!
This time I chose a light-weight linen. As I mentioned in my Spring/Summer Sewing Plans post, I picked out a short length top to go with. This should improve the weight issue!
Fabric: 5.5 oz Softened Linen in Dark Denim from Blackbird Fabrics
Pattern: Cielo top by Closet Core Patterns
I bought this linen last year, and I don’t think they have the exact same linen anymore; but Blackbird Fabrics still carries a wide range of linen, including something similar to this one.
This 5.5 oz Softened Linen is light-weight, has a soft hand with slight crispness, and has very subtle sheen. It’s certainly not shiny, but not completely matt nor dull either. (At least that’s what I think!) It’s got a nice texture and is breezy.
Cielo top is a simple breezy boxy top (the pattern also comes with a dress version.) It has bust darts; this top version comes with semi-cropped length, and cuffed short sleeves.
I didn’t want mine to be too short, so I used the length that was drafted for the biggest size in the range.
I feel that this pattern runs a little big. Maybe that’s totally intentional for a relaxed boxy design, but if you’re in between sizes, I might consider to go down a size. (Unless of course, you want that extra breezy-ness.)
It also has angled back yoke and I love this a little extra design feature.
Because linen fabric frays a lot, I finished most of the seams with french seam method to enclose the edges as much as possible. I’m so glad I did, it looks so neat inside!
It probably doesn’t look like it, but the neck opening is slightly too wide to my liking. It looks fine if I’m standing up straight and not moving, but when I do move around, it gapes a bit. Next time, I’ll make the neckline slightly smaller, or grade a smaller size just around the neck.
But over all, I’m happy with the fit! It’s so comfortable and breezy, yet looks pretty clean and sophisticated.
I really liked the way this pattern makes cuffs on sleeves too!
I’m excited to be sewing again, and I’m very excited to check off one thing from my spring/summer sewing list!
Jun 6, 2021
