Sézane-Inspired Hadley Top

 

Are you familiar with Sézane? They’re an independent French fashion brand that designs limited-run seasonal collections sold exclusively online, and I’m obsessed with them. Well, I mean, I love French style in general, so it wasn’t that much of a stretch! A lot of their designs make it to my inspiration boards on Pinterest, which is where the idea came to turn the Grainline Studio Hadley top into something similar from their 2016 collection:

 

 

 

I made a lot of modifications to the Hadley pattern to get the look I was going for. First off, I raised the bust darts 1″ after tissue-fitting the pattern, which is a typical adjustment for me with bust darts. I then shortened the sleeves by cutting at the “lengthen/shorten here” line, figuring that point would give me a nice 3/4ish sleeve length. The last major pattern change was to cut the front for view A and combine it with the back for view B – I found on some blogs that it’s possible to pull the top over your head and gave it a try, plus the back of view B is less full than view A, and you’ll see why I wanted that plain back in a minute.

Fabric choice is really important for the pattern, definitely pick something with a nice drape that isn’t too stiff, otherwise you risk this top looking like a tent. I used a Rag & Bone poly crepe from Mood that I bought a bunch of, it’s got a great hand and I’m planning on using the rest of the yardage for a LBD.

 

 

The ruffles are just long rectangles folded in half and gathered. For the neck, I basted the ruffle on around the neckline before attaching the facing. The ruffle easily stands up after the facings are tacked down at the center back, shoulders, and center front. For the sleeves, I sewed the ruffle to the sleeve edge right sides together, pressed the seam allowance towards the sleeves to make the ruffles flip down, and then top-stitched the seam in place at 1/4″ to ensure that the ruffle stayed in place.

 

 

 

Just like on the Sézane top,  I purposely have a space between the beginning and end of the ruffle band. I found some ivory buttons in my stash and tacked them on down the center-back seam. I really wanted this detail and am so happy that I could use the back of view B to achieve this and still get the top over my head!

 

 

Pattern:Hadley Top by Grainline Studio, via Indiesew
Fabric: Rag & Bone poly crepe from Mood Fabrics; ivory poly silk from my stash

 

This post is part of the Indiesew Blogger Network – pattern or fabric may have been provided by Indiesew, however all thoughts and opinions are my own