Bronze Woven Linden Sweatshirt Top

How amazing is this top! Sorry I just had to start out with that because I’m so excited about it. I love the idea of mixing a glitzy fabric with a more simple, casual shaped garment. I feel it makes it easier to wear in any occasion, dressed up or down. Truly this is a special piece to add to my wardrobe.

The Pattern is of course the Linden Sweatshirt by Grainline Studio. I adore this pattern. This is view B which features short sleeves and a slightly cropped hem. I love the casual shape of this pattern and even though it’s intended for a fleece or terry type material I think it really will do well in any sort of fabric light or heavy weight. This is actually my second Linden. For the first I did a more traditional sweatshirt style view A with knit fabric.

I know you are dying to hear about this fabric. I’m not really sure what to technically call it. Its almost like a loosely woven tweed with a bronze metallic treatment on top. This fabric has been lurking around in my stash for some time now I just wasn’t quite sure what to do with it. It was another internship freebee from my NYC days. Honestly I was a little intimidated by it. I’m not usually a sparkly/metallic kind of girl, so I needed to do something that would “dress down” the fabric itself. It dawned on me that a short-sleeved Linden would be a perfect fit. I didn’t want the fun shape of the pattern to get lost in the fabric so I added some black piping to the sleeve seams. I love the way it makes them pop.

Since this pattern was intended for knit fabrics and I was working with a pretty sturdy woven I needed to make a few adjustments. I cut all the pieces on the bias to allow for a little more movement. I also eliminated the neck band because I wasn’t sure how it would lay. A lot of sewists I’ve seen make woven lindens simply cut the neckband on the bias and made it a little longer, but I didn’t feel like it needed a neckband and since I wasn’t really sure about that technique I decided to do without. Instead I clean finished the neckline with some black bias tape to the inside.

Everything else I did by the book according to the pattern and instructions. This top came together so fast. View B without the neckband is only 3 pattern pieces so even with cutting and sewing I had it done in no time. For finishes I sewed it up with a straight stitch and serged the raw seams. I kept the double needle finish on the hem and sleeve hem to mimic that sweatshirt look.

Pattern: Grainline Studio Linden Sweatshirt
Fabric: Metallic Coated Tweed
Notions: Black Piping Trim
Difficulty: Super Easy
Adjustments: Cut on bias, eliminated neckband, clean finished with bias tape.
Finishes: Serged seams, piped sleeve seams.
Time: Around 2 hours
Sew it again? Definitely! This is my second linden and it won’t be my last.

Have you made a woven Linden yet?? I’d love to hear about it!