Creative articles about sewing

Sew a Woven Top with Hem Detail (FREE pattern and hack)

I was shopping in a local, high-end clothing store for sewing inspiration and decided I wanted to sew a woven top. I came across an amazing woven top with a unique hem detail. It was made of linen and I immediately fell in love with it. I don’t have many woven tops in my wardrobe, but I always like the polish they add to outfits. The loops and drawstring are a simple way to add eye-catching detail to a basic shape.  I decided that it was something that I could easily hack to create my own.

Bottom hem hack with loops and drawcord.

The first thing that I needed to do was to find a pattern with the same basic shape. It needed a cut-on sleeve and a simple boxy shape. There are a lot of pdf patterns out there that will fit this description, but I really wanted to find a free one to share with everyone.  Enter The Assembly Line L601!

The free Assembly Line pattern that I used is the L601 Pyjamas pattern. I haven’t used it for pyjamas, yet, but it would make wonderful warm-weather sleepwear so I may need to try that too.

One thing to note is that the instructions for this pattern are in metric. Here are some conversion charts for those who prefer to use imperial measurements. You may want to bookmark these to use in future as well. https://www.yoansewingstudio.com/uploads/1/2/3/6/123681478/metric_conversion_guide.pdf

https://jo-sews-etc.blogspot.com/2012/10/sewing-tip-printable-seam-allowance.html

Materials Needed:

  • Sewing Machine BERNINA 590
    Image of BERNINA 590.

    BERNINA 590

    Computerized machine for Sewing, Quilting, and Embroidering ✓ Sew longer with the Jumbo bobbin ✓ Handle all kinds of material with ease ✓

    Learn more
  • Sewing machine foot: Reverse Pattern Foot 1D
  • The Assembly Line Free Pyjamas Pattern
  • 0.5 metres Fusible interfacing for front and back neck facings
  • Loop turning tool  My favourite is the set of three Dritz loop-turning tubes
  • Sewing clips
  • Printer or projector for the PDF pattern
  • Cutting mat, rotary cutter, sewing ruler
  • Fabric:
  • Coordinating thread

Other Fabric Suggestions:

I would suggest linen, rayon or drapey cotton.

Getting Started:

I always pre-wash my fabric as soon as I get it home from the store, so I know all fabrics have already been pre-treated and are ready to use. It is best, I think, to make sure that you give it the “harshest” treatment so that laundry accidents down the road don’t destroy the clothes that you took so much time to sew. This will take out any factory chemicals and allow for the pre-shrinking of natural fibres. I usually wash it in hot water and throw it into a hot dryer, but you may want to try with a small swatch first with more delicate fabrics, just in case!

Download the Free Woven Top PDF Pattern:

The Assembly Line Pyjamas Sewing Pattern is free for The Assembly Line sewing club members. It is FREE to join, just click the link HERE and follow the instructions.  You can download and print at home, or you can use the AO format to print it in large format. 

I used the AO format with my projector and projected the pattern pieces onto my cutting table. Sometimes I project straight to fabric but this time I projected onto tracing paper and made a paper pattern to store for future use. More information on using projectors for sewing can be found here:

Projectors for Sewing

Cutting your fabric:

You will need to cut out the following fabric pieces:

Top Front

Top Back

Front Neck Facing (from fabric and interfacing)

Back Neck Facing (from fabric and interfacing)

Bottom hem loops: 4 cm by 1 metre x 2

Drawcord: 4 cm by the desired length. You may need to piece multiple strips together

Any woven top pattern will work if it has a straight bottom hem.

*Interfacing Tip for Facings:

  • For a clean-edged facing, sew the interfacing fusible side up, with the non-fusible side toward the right side of the neck facing fabric pieces. Use the smallest seam allowance possible. Turn the fusible side of the interfacing to the wrong side of the facing and press,  following the fusing instructions. This will leave the stitched edge free, with a nice clean finish that doesn’t require any edge finishing.

    Stitch the interfacing along the outer edge, flip and then press to fuse. This creates a clean edge that doesn’t require serging or a zigzag finish.

    A clean-finished facing edge.

Sew the Woven Top:

Attach the interfacing to the front and back neck facings.  *See the interfacing fusing tip above for a clean-finish option.

Place the front bodice piece on top of the back bodice, wrong sides together.  Stitch the shoulder seams. Finish the seam with zigzag stitch or serger and press.

Finish sleeve hem edges with a zigzag or serger.

Sew the Facings, Side Seams, Sleeve Hems:

Sew the front and back facing together at shoulder seams. Press the seams open. Place the neck facing onto the neck edge of the body, right sides together.  Sew the seam. Turn facing to the inside. Topstitch the outer edge of the facing to the body of the top 3 cm from the seam.

Sew the side seams. Finish with a zigzag or serger.

Then, turn up and press the sleeve hems by 0.5 cm and then by 3cm.  Topstitch the sleeve hems.

Sewing the Bottom Hem Loops: 

Cut a strip of fabric 4 cm wide.  Fold the strip in half, with the wrong sides together, and sew with a 0.5 cm seam allowance.  You will now have a tube to turn right side out.  I have a variety of tube-turning tools for this purpose.  My favourite is the smallest Dritz brand plastic tube turner that uses a narrower metal rod to push the fabric through the tube.

Variety of tools for loop turning.

Press the tube flat, with the seam allowance slightly to the back.

Cut loops 7.5 cm long for bottom hem loops.

Sew the Drawcord:

Cut a strip of fabric 4 cm wide by the desired length. I made my drawcord approximately 2 metres long.  Longer drawcords may require piecing multiple strips together.  Fold in half lengthwise wrong sides together.  Stitch with a 0.5 cm or less seam allowance.  Turn tube.  *You may wish to use a purchased drawcord or piece of ribbon instead of sewing your own.  This tube is tricky to turn!

Sew the Bottom Hem Detail:

Measure and cut the bottom 5cm off the shirt. Yes, really! Set it aside.  This will be used as a hem facing.

Measure and cut 5 cm off the bottom hem of the top.

Evenly space the pieces you cut for the drawcord loops around the bottom of the shirt. I spaced mine about 5 cm apart.  Use sewing clips to hold them in place.  *Baste the loops in place.

* Basting Tip: I use a longer stitch length of about 4.0 for basting when I simply need to hold something in place.  For basting together for fitting purposes, I usually use the BERNINA basting stitch as it is very simple to remove. If you would like, you can print a handy stitch reference guide with your own free printable stitch chart of BERNINA 590 stitches.

Now, get the 5cm loop of fabric that you cut from the bottom and set aside. Line it up with the bottom cut edge of the shirt and pin it right sides together. The loops will be sandwiched in between the shirt and this hem facing.  Stitch with a 1 cm seam allowance.

The fabric you cut off the bottom is applied over the loops to sandwich them. Stitch along the bottom raw edge.

Turn facing to the inside. Next, turn the raw edge in 0.5 cm and press. Turn up the bottom hem facing to the inside/wrong side of the shirt and topstitch it to the main body. I used a stitch length of 3.5 on my BERNINA for topstitching details.

Topstitch the bottom hem facing to secure in place.

Using this hack, you can modify different patterns for unique looks.

Happy stitching! 

Heather @ManitoulinThreads🧵✂

 

Free sewing instructions: Woven Top with Hem Detail 

Difficulty level: Intermediate
Time to Complete: Weekend
Used Material: crepe fabric, cutting mat, loop turners, rotary cutter, sewing clips, sewing machine, sewing ruler
Used Products:
BERNINA 590
BERNINA 590
BERNINA 1150MDA
BERNINA 1150MDA
Reverse Pattern Foot #1
Reverse Pattern Foot #1

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