How To: Kooples -Inspired Floral Short-Sleeve Button-Up Top

This top doesn't attempt to be a copy of any specific one out there, the fabric just gave me major Kooples vibes. I also ventured into the world of button making for the first time, and have no clue why it took so long. I LOVE button details, but always struggle finding buttons I like. Isn't it amazing when you find solutions to life-long problems.

Tutorials take a lot of time & effort to create, and I choose to make mine available for free. If you enjoy this guide, you can support me with a donation that feels right for you, here.

TOOLS:

Fabric, 1.5 meters (I used 100% cotton)  |  Scissors  |  Thread, needle, sewing machine  |  Pins  |  Cover-up buttons (or regular buttons)

I. My cut back pieces below (I'm EU36/US4):

To make the yoke I followed the steps in this post.

II. Cut front pieces:

III. Cut Sleeves:

IV. To assemble the shoulders, I used this method.

V. Then attached the sleeves, first pinning right side facing right side of top, first matching the center of the curved sleeve edge to the arm hole on the top, then sewing and finishing with my serger (or a zib-zag if you don't have a serger).

For a clean finish I top-stitched the curved sleeve seam:

VI. Then pinned the sleeve under-seam and down the side + sewed down..

.. Or almost down, I did do a small slit at the hem:

VII. For the sleeves, I wanted to wear them rolled so needed to do a wide double-fold (about 3 cm) on the reverse:

.. Which I sewed in place so I could fold it up once on the right side and still only see the right side of the fabric.

VIII. For the open front, I made a lining piece that matched the shape of the V-neck, one piece to go all around (I had only 1 m of fabric which was juuust enough, so I made the lining strip out of 5 pieces...):

Then finished the outer edge with my serger, pinned the unfinished edge onto the top, right sides facing, and sewed all around..

.. To then flip it onto the reverse, and edge-stitch all around to finish. 

Making of the fabric-covered buttons is in this separate post. To finish my top, I just machine sewed the button holes, and hand-sewed on the buttons. Finally, hemmed the top with a double fold.

xo,

Julia