Lemon Gilbert Top
You know I’ve been enjoying making and wearing dresses this summer, but that doesn’t mean I don’t need any cute tops!
Cute (and breezy) tops that I can just throw on on a hot day are very important in my closet during summer. One of my go-to patterns is Gilbert Top by Helen’s Closet.
Gilbert is my tried and true shirt pattern; I love the fit and the construction a lot.
The cute lemon print is a cotton lawn I purchased in Japan a few years ago. I love this print, I wish I bought more in a different colour… If I remember correctly, they also came in white and pale pink.
It’s lightweight with a bit of crispness, just the kind of cotton you’d want to use for a shirt.
In the picture above, it might look like there’s a centre seam in addition to the back yoke but the vertical line in the middle is just a crease that I didn’t iron out.
What it has though, is a back pleat on each side!
I saw someone doing this on IG and got me interested. Although I don’t have a problem with Gilbert’s range of motion, the added comfort would be nice.
They’re fairly small (shallow) pleats; they don’t affect overall fit much, but they do add more range of motion. Plus I think they add some interests to the back design!
It’s almost invisible but it’s got a front pocket as well.
Since I made this pattern a few times before, I got lazy and didn’t check the instruction. I forgot that the sleeve cuffs are meant to be folded.
Instead, I just finished them as usual—1cm folded seams. As a result, this shirt has longer sleeves than intended, but I don’t mind! I think the trend for camp collar shirt these days is loose fit anyway.
I actually went up a size this time as I wanted to make more relaxed fit version.
While I’m happy with the fit overall, I think that the hem curves out a bit too wide. I might straighten that out so that the shirt would look more boxy next time.
So now that I have an adorable summery top, I’m thinking I need a pair of bermuda shorts! Maybe Arden pants pattern and make them knee length? I’m looking for somewhat relaxed, elastic waisted pattern for comfort. If you have any suggestions, please let me know!
Jun 23, 2022
