The sun has returned to Belgium and pushed me to think about the summer wardrobe. That's how I felt like sewing myself a little strappy top Ségur by Cozy little world. I had already sewn this simple and effective camisole model twice, and the pattern offers several very nice variations. 

So it was with pleasure that I went to find it in my "pattern library" and rummaged through my fabric stash to make this top that uses very little fabric. 

The pattern and supplies to sew the top

I invite you to reread the full article on the Ségur top I made if you are interested here.

To sew this top, you need:

• woven fabric: cotton poplin, cotton lawn, viscose...
• some coordinated thread
• some bias tape if desired for the finishes
• some buttons if desired (depending on the chosen Ségur pattern)

For my part, I had about 80cm of fabric left from last year’s collection from the shop and I had set it aside to make a summer top. 80cm is enough for the Ségur top, so it was perfect. 

I chose the version without a ruffle and buttoned at the back. 

The pattern is relatively simple to make, the main difficulties are:

• making the bust clips,
• making the spaghetti straps
• assembling the facing
• the hem at the bottom of the garment
• and depending on the chosen versions, the placement of a ruffle or the making of a button placket and buttonhole. 

The finishes of the top

You probably already know that I’m crazy about beautiful finishes for my sewing projects. So I chose to bind the facings of the top rather than overlock them. 

To bind, I used 20mm white bias tape. You just need to place the bias tape folded over before attaching it to the body of the top. I wrote an article about applying bias tape, you can find it here. 

Then, I made a hem at the bottom of the top. 

These are very beautiful finishes and they stand out from what you usually see in stores.

I was already very happy with my top when my eyes landed on the embroideries I was making for another project... and the idea struck me, "what if I embroidered the neckline of this top." The pattern really suited it well...

In principle, I should have embroidered before cutting my pieces, it would have been easier to stretch the toile in an embroidery hoop... but it was too late. No matter! I'll manage, and without hesitation, I started testing on a fabric scrap. 

Embroidery and supplies

I wanted to re-embroider the flower and leaf designs and I was craving warm tones of yellow, orange, green, and gold...

So I took out my box of DMC mouliné and diamant embroidery threads to choose the color assortment. 

I also equipped myself with a good pointed DMC embroidery needle. I chose to embroider:

• the hibiscus flowers in yellow and to make the pistil in gold
• the small 5-petal flowers in red 606 and to make a small stitch with diamant thread inside the petals
  
• the leaves only in the middle of the top

Choosing the stitches

When you don’t have patterns to follow, you have to choose the stitches to use for your embroidery. It can be a bit intimidating but it’s very enjoyable to do and especially very creative. 

For plants, stem stitch often works very well because it allows you to make curves quite easily, and nature is made of curves and twists. So I outlined the flowers and leaves with stem stitch. 

The pistils were made with knot stitch and diamant thread (just one round). 

The palm leaf was made with loop stitch. It was the longest and most difficult part to make due to the length of the stitches. 

There are a few long stitches for the details of the flowers and leaves. 

Nothing complicated except patience to finish my top! 

In the end, I’m very proud of myself and my idea even if it came later 😊. I’m also super happy with the inner finishes of my top, which I’m very proud to wear! 

And you, do you like to embroider your creations? Or do you have other techniques to embellish your creations?

You want to try but don’t dare to start? Why not join our embroidery and/or sewing courses?