I first sewed the Style Arc Ethel top way back in 2015. I sewed it a second time shortly after, then a third time in 2017. And despite my regular wardrobe purges, I still wear all three of those tops regularly in warmer weather. It’s a style that has been forgiving of my size changes, and it continues to be a valued wardrobe separate. I also continue to wear the Style Arc Ethel pants that I sewed at the same time.

This time around I sewed it from a remnant of hand-woven Thai cotton; I’m finally getting closer to the bottom of my Thailand souvenir stash. The number of seams in the pattern make it easy to tetris onto smaller remnants. You could also have lots of fun piecing this together from contrasting fabrics (hmmm, I have some linen that might work for next summer). I topstitch along the angled front and back seamlines for some extra detail and to stabilise.

This top has lovely wide facings to finish the neckline, hemline and armholes. The armhole one is a bit tricky the first time that you sew it so take your time. There’s only a tiny seam in the facing joining the front and back. Actually, I just discovered that Style Arc now have a tutorial for the neck and armholes. I chose not to interface any of the facings this time around.

From the Style Arc website: This gorgeous boxy shaped top with angled design lines gives your wardrobe a new and fashionable look. The wide facings give this top structure and style. This pattern has been cleverly drafted to cover the top of the arms whilst not losing any of the design elements. FABRIC SUGGESTION: Linen, Crepe, Silk, light wool.

This pattern is such a winner for me. I love the resulting top, and there will definitely be more.

And once again, I’m wearing it with Stokx Square pants!

When I was tidying/sorting/organising my fabric stash recently I came across some printed rayon from Spotlight that was left over from sewing Christmas gifts a few years ago.  I decided that a good way to get it out of my stash would be to sew it up into something.  There was just enough for a Style Arc Betty tunic.

This is another repeat – I’ve sewn this pattern twice before. From the pattern website: This relaxed fit, square shaped tunic features a round neck, side splits and a hi low hemline. This tunic will see you through many seasons and become a favourite. Leave the sleeve elbow length or turn back the shaped sleeve facing to create a cuff.

I made a couple of changes to the finishing. The front is a little bit shorter than drafted and doesn’t have quite a deep a hem as the back. That’s purely due to fabric restrictions (yes, I cut out the back first then realised how little fabric I had left to play with to cut out the front). I didn’t have enough fabric to do the shaped sleeve facings as per the pattern, and instead decided to cut and make some bias binding and finish the sleeve edges with that instead.

The neckline binding isn’t done as per the instructions either. It’s normally a narrower binding, but I decided to use it like an narrow bias external facing, applied the same way as the sleeve finish and topstitched in place. If you look closely you can see the ‘stripes’ around the neckline and sleeve hems are on the diagonal – that’s the bias tape!  By the way, I sewed size 12.

This top also works beautifully with my Stokx Square Pants. Definitely a positive addition to my wardrobe!