Wiksten Shift Tops

 

Sometime mid-May, I started thinking about boxy, woven t-shirts, with either set-in or cut on sleeves. I am really not a fan of raglan sleeves. I asked for input from the Instagram sewing community and decided to give the Shift Top from Wiksten Patterns a try. Enough people had tried it that it wasn't hard to find images of this top on other people with a similar body shape to my own. I'm pretty sure that according to the pattern's suggested sizing I should have cut a size 10, but with everyone's input I decided to try sizing down two whole sizes to a 6. I am glad I did.

The first one I made was out of an old white sheet that I thrifted to use as muslin. I am really glad that the fit turned out so well, because I love this top. The fabric is 100% cotton and is so soft from years of use and washings. Looking back, I realize that I should have waited to wear the white top a few times before cutting into the other fabrics I had in mind for this pattern, but I didn't. If I had, I would have made a high rounded back adjustment, because the top does slip backward regularly.

I liked the look of the back yoke that Wiksten suggests for the dress version of the shift, so I used that for the shirt back on all of my tops. It all came together so nicely, and it felt good to wear, so I forged ahead and cut out two more short sleeve tops.

The first was out of a remnant of embroidered navy linen. I can't exactly remember where I bought this fabric, but I really like it. And thankfully, the embroidery does not snag or catch on things. Due to its boxy shape and the cut-on sleeves, this pattern is a bit of a fabric hog. As a result, I had to cut the back with a center seam and I didn't have enough of the linen for the facing or the inside back yoke. Honestly, that probably would have been an itchy choice. Instead, I used a remnant of flannel. This has resulted in a very comfortable, slightly cozy, very nice looking top. I also used some leftover homemade bias in a lightweight silk-cotton to finish the sleeves.

My third version was made from a black and cream ikat purchased online from The Sewing Studio.

At the same time that I purchased the ikat, I also purchased some navy double gauze with small white dots. I have another shirt made of double gauze and I love how cool and cozy it is. I wanted to make a version of this top with long sleeves. The pattern comes with 3/4 length sleeves, but I work at a computer all day and my wrists get cold, so I added some length to the sleeves to bring them down to the knuckles on my hands. This would allow me to fold up a cuff and show off the reverse side of the double gauze. I was also playing with another pattern (discussed in a future post) that I wanted to make out of the same double gauze, so this long-sleeved version has some piecing on the outer back yoke and a different piece of double gauze for the inner back yoke.

This one is definitely my favorite to wear. When I was laying it out to photograph, I noticed that the elbows are wearing thin! My next project is to find a couple of scraps of this fabric to make contrasting elbow patches.

Finally, I wanted to make another version of this long-sleeve top to wear with a couple of skirts I had already made (which will also be covered in a future post). At the time I still thought I would be heading back into the office in the late summer/early fall and I wanted to have some office-appropriate outfits to wear. I found a bright yellow stretch linen at Mill End Store and it has also proved to be a very functional garment. I even wore it kayaking as a lightweight layer to cover my arms.

I think I'm done making Wiksten Shift Tops for a while, but I think this will become a pattern that I come back to over and over again.