I found this linen knit at the fabric store on Tuesday. It’s the most comfortable hot day fabric I’ve ever felt. Any breeze goes right through it, even walking cools you off. I went for a long hike in it yesterday, and it’s like not wearing a shirt at all, only you don’t get sunburned. Perfect. The bad news is, it’s a stretchy fabric with no memory. The edges unravel and have to be properly finished. It stretches as you sew it until every sewn edge is pulled to it’s longest possible length. I did my best with rolled edges and the loosest, drapiest, simplest design I could come up with, but it was still a pain to work with.
I wouldn’t go hunting down a linen knit if I were you, but the style of top is really easy to make and nice on a hot day in any fabric. Buy 3/4 of a yard of fabric and wash it. Cut it lengthwise so that one piece is a few inches longer than the other. I used about an 8 inch difference, which made for a very low neckline. Finish all the edges if the fabric you’re using needs it. Pin the two rectangles together so all the corners line up. One piece will have a bit of extra fabric in the middle. This is fine. Sew up the short sides a bit more than half way. These are the sides of your top. Sew up the top of the shirt (the long side that does not share corners with your side seams) From each corner. Leave a 5-10″ neck hole in the middle. Wear your shirt!
An entirely different set of photos from later in the afternoon can be seen in the Etsy listing.
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