Everything is constantly going in and out of style, but one thing I thought I’d had enough of was ’80s puff sleeves. That is, until The Serissa Top came into my life. With adorable throwback sleeves and an easy wrap around silhouette, this shirt is one of the most versatile patterns I’ve worked with. Keep it styled with a lustrous fabric and gorgeous applique for an outfit that can travel from day into evening, or try a geometric lace and fringe for the cutest new addition to your festival wardrobe!
Fabrics & materials used:
- 2 yards Luminous Baby Blue Wrinkled Polyester
- 1 yard 5″ 3D Metallic Gunmetal Floral Lace Trim
- 4 yards Italian Metallic Gunmetal and Gray Striped Grosgrain Ribbon
- MDF135 – The Serissa Top Sewing Pattern (free download below!)
All seam allowances are 1/2″ unless otherwise stated. See chart below for sizing specifications. Note, this specific pattern is available up to a size 30.
First, fold your ties in half, faces together, and sew along the bottom and angled end of the ties. Clip the seam allowance, turn right side out, press, and then set your ties aside for the time being.
Begin the bodice of your shirt by sewing your two front panels to the back of your shirt at the shoulders. Personally, I used French seams for this garment since it’s unlined, but you should also use a serger.
Pin and sew a length of the grosgrain ribbon to the fabric face along the top edge and neckline of your shirt. Fold the ribbon toward the wrong side of your garment, press and and sew to create a binding.
Placing the fabric faces together, evenly gather the bottom of your sleeve into the bottom of the sleeve lining, like you see below.
Fold the top of your sleeve lining to the top of your sleeve piece and pin them, wrong sides together.
Attach the top of your sleeves to the armscye of your shirt. Below, you can see how I attached mine with a French seam.
Close the inseam of your sleeve and side seam on the left side. On the left side, pin on of your shirt ties into the side seam of the shirt, 1″ from the bottom of the garment. Close the right side and sleeve, the same as you did on the left side.
Bind the bottom of your shirt as you did with the neckline. Cut a 2.5″ piece of grosgrain ribbon and gather the edge of the right side of your shirt into the ribbon, like below. Bind the the edge of the shirt like you did with the hem and neckline. Hand sew two buttons at either corner of the binding on the face of the fabric. Add two corresponding 1/2″ loops of elastic inside the left side of your shirt.
Rather than gather the left side of your shirt into the ribbon binding, gather it into your other shirt tie. And just like that your new crop top is complete!
Will you be adding any 3D floral trims along the neckline like we did, or trying out the matching Romulea Skirt? Let me know in the comments!
12 comments
Hello you have in your supply list a 1/2 yard or black cotton fabric but I can’t see where you used that?
Whoops! It looks like that line got carried over from The Romulea Skirt – I used it for the pockets on that. Thank you for the catch, and sorry for the confusion!
Oh ok great thanks cute top I can’t wait to make it!
Beautiful top. Your instructions are a bit unclear to understand but still a great top. Thank you
Hello! Hope you are doing really well! I wanted to ask if you have any advice on doing the sleeves a bit longer.
Have a nice day!
Hi, Valentina! I’d recommend lengthening the sleeve lining first to the length you’d like the sleeve to be and then adding that same amount to the outer sleeve layer. 🙂
Hello,
I really struggle to understand the size guid. I am M or in Europe size 40/42 in UK size 12, and I don’t understand if this pattern is made with USA sizes and I can’t find how to find out which one is my right size ?
Hello! We’re sorry for the delay in responding to your question! We get dozens of comments and questions each day, and so many questions get buried and, unfortunately, unanswered. We are now focusing user support on patterns 2 years and newer. We hope this will prevent questions on our more current patterns from going unanswered. Although this is late, we wanted to respond in case anyone else has the same question: our size charts are in US sizing.
These instructions are not clear at all.
Really wish there were more pictures of the final product laid out flat – It’s really hard to see how the bows attach.
Hello!
Thank you for your feedback. Most of the instructions on our 350+ patterns, especially these older ones, do reflect their no-cost nature. But we understand your frustration!
Unfortunately we can’t update the instructions on every pattern in our archive, especially if they are over 2 years old, however, if there are errors we will correct them! We encourage you to take a look at the improved in newer patterns, offering more thorough guidance! We appreciate your engagement and invite you to explore these updated options for a better sewing experience!
What is the recommended fabric for this pattern? I see that you used polyester for this example, but I low key hate wearing that and would rather wear cotton or linen. Would that work too? Thanks for providing these resources!
Hi Bailey, we’re sorry for the delay in responding to your question! We get dozens of comments and questions each day, and so many questions get buried and, unfortunately, unanswered. We are now focusing user support on patterns 2 years and newer. We hope this will prevent questions on our more current patterns from going unanswered. Although this is late, we wanted to respond in case anyone else has the same question: you could sew this in linen like we did for this redux!