Adding a tie to The Holiday Shirt

This variation really changes the look of the Holiday Shirt from a boyish garment to a feminine blouse.

With polka dots, sheer fabrics and tie neck blouses all on trend, now seemed the perfect time to make the most of this fabric remnant. It is a sheer polyester with a subtle crinkle in oversized polka dots.

Sheer fabric lend themselves to looser shapes so the square body of the Holiday Top was the starting point; the shorter length and the deep hem work well with this fabric.The collar or hood from the pattern has been replaced with a simple tie and the facings were omitted. If you wish to reproduce this the pattern piece for the tie, the details are shown above. The tie is cut on the cross, this gives the tie enough flexibility to work around the curve of the neckline.

Pin the tie to the centre back neck and then followed the neckline round to the front, and stitch in place. Then fold the tie, right sides together and pin, stitch from the tie end up to the centre front. Turn the tie end through to expose the right side and press. On the inside neck hand stitch the back of the tie down. To make the most of the fabric the sleeves were widened as shown above.

The finished affect is a great addition to any spring wardrobe.

The tie can be simply tied or tied in a bow and it looks great worn under a jacket too.