The sun has returned to Belgium and pushed me to think about the summer wardrobe. That's how I wanted to sew 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 fetch it from 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 that I had made if you are interested here.
To sew this top, you need:
- woven fabric: cotton poplin, cottonlawn, 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 ruffle and buttoned at the back.
The pattern is relatively simple to make, the main difficulties are:
- making the bust darts,
- 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 had written 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 it’s different from what you usually see in stores
I was already very satisfied with my top when my eyes landed on the embroideries I was making for another project... and the flash came "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 fabric in an embroidery hoop... but it was too late. No matter! I'll manage and without hesitation, I started tests on a fabric scrap.
Embroidery and supplies
I wanted to embroider the flower and leaf designs and I felt like using warm tones of yellow, orange, green, and gold...
So I took out my box of DMC stranded 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
The choice of stitches
When you don't have models to follow, you have to choose the stitches to use to make your embroidery. It can be a bit scary but it is 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 convolutions. So I made the outlines of the flowers and leaves with stem stitch.
The pistils were made with knot stitch and diamant thread (only one round).
The palm leaf was made with loop stitch. It is the part that took the longest and was the most difficult to make given 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 am very proud of myself and my idea even if it came afterwards 😊. I am also super happy with the inner finishes of my top which I am very proud to wear!
And you, do you like to embroider your creations? Or do you have other embellishment techniques for your creations?
You want to but you don't dare to start? Why not come to the embroidery and/or sewing courses with us?
