Made By A Fabricista: Sheer Elegance and Everyday Comfort with my Two New Tops

Hello Sewing Friends! It’s Sharon from Sharon Sews with my last Fabricista make for 2025. While many sew a special holiday outfit at year’s end, I went in another direction sewing two tops that couldn’t be more different. One is sheer and elegant while the other is easy comfort for everyday wear.

These tops reflect how I dress at this stage of life. As an over-50 sewist, these two tops reflect how I dress at this point in my life. Sometimes I want something a bit special, other times more basic. Either way, sewing them in beautiful fabrics, custom fit to my body, makes all the difference in how I feel when I wear them.

Even though I’m quite pleased with my two tops, my original plan was to sew a jacket with the tropical print stretch twill and pair it with a top sewn from the soutache mesh knit.

Sadly, I wasn’t quick enough to get enough of the stretch twill to make a jacket, so a top it was! You do know you have to act fast when you see something you love on Fabric Mart’s website.

After much internal debate on what top pattern to use, I settled on the Style Arc Bonnie Woven Top pattern, which is a TNT pattern for me. TNT stands for a tried-and-true, one I’ve sewn previously multiple times with the fitting and construction details were already worked out. Based on how often I wear my other Bonnie Tops, I knew this one would become a favorite also.

I cut my front pattern piece single layer as I wanted to make sure the bird was front and center on my top. After all, that was the real reason I fell in love with this fabric.

The buttons I used are a bit smaller than what the pattern called for, but I liked the color with the print of the fabric.

Because of the weight of the fabric, I found I could eliminate the interfacing on this top. I finished the seams with my serger, using gray thread as I didn’t have serger thread the color of this fabric. That’s a sewing tip I learned decades ago. Who would have guessed that gray threads blends with so many colors!

Not only will this top be perfect for a warm weather vacation, it will be worn quite often this coming summer.

MY sheer elegance top is quite different from my everyday top and the fabric is everything! One of those fabrics that once you have it in your hands you wish you had purchased more.

For this top I used another pattern I’ve sewn previously, Vogue 1701. This pattern includes a sleeveless and raglan sleeve version of the tunic top. I meant to sew the sleeveless version, thinking I’d wear it alone or under a blazer, but I absentmindedly cut out the raglan sleeve version. It’s okay though, I rather like the slightly puffed sleeves in this fabric.

For the collar interfacing I used a silk organza as it provided the structure the collar needed without changing the transparency of the sheer fabric.

This pattern calls for a neckline zipper in the back, which I eliminated as I didn’t think the fabric would hold up to the weight of a zipper. Instead, I added a small center back slit, made two tiny fabric loops from the selvage of the fabric (the part that did not have the soutache embellishment), and sewed two small buttons on the collar.

If your machine has difficulty feeding this type of fabric, place a strip of tear away stabilizer, or tissue paper, under the fabric. It will help the fabric feed evenly and you can simply tear away the paper when done.

Knowing I would do a half tuck with this top, I removed 3” from the length. I also eliminated the wide sleeve cuff, substituting a casing with elastic. I think that works better in this fabric.

At first, I was going to underline the body portion of the top with a lightweight knit that was close in color to my skin tone. However, when I tried the top on, I realized the underlining changed the drape of the fabric. So, I removed the underlining. Because of the transparency of the fabric, I’ll wear my light pink cami underneath as it blends well with the fabric.

The fabric is beautiful enough sewn into this top to wear without jewelry. But I do love my costume jewelry and I’m of an age that I just wear what I love.

As 2025 draws to a close, I hope your year was filled with a lot of sewing and beautiful garments you loved creating. Here’s to another new year filled with lots of sewing with new fabric from Fabric Mart Fabrics!

If you’ve enjoyed my Fabricista posts, come find me on YouTube and Instagram for even more sewing fun and inspiration.

Until next year, Happy Sewing!

SHARON | @thesharonsews

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