Workhorses

At some point in the late spring, I realized that my warm weather uniform had become a linen tee and linen Free Range skirt hack.  I find the woven tees a lot cooler in the disgusting heat, and the linen skirts are an easy addition.  I have a few regular knit T-shirts I'm wearing, but mostly these tees are my go-to.  So I made a few in May and have been wearing them nonstop since. 

This version is my favorite. The linen top is Abyss handkerchief linen, and while I was unsure about the colorway (I have a complicated relationship with navy), it is a much richer and more interesting color than it photographed. The hand of the fabric is almost buttery, and it is one of the nicest linens I've worked with.

The pattern is my super-Frankenpatterned simple top.  It is a blend of the Sorrel dress bodice, the Portrait blouse, and something else that I can't remember at the moment.  The 3/4 sleeve piece is from the Carson dress, but I'm probably going to redraft it sometime soon because I don't love how the sleeve head fits onto the grown-on sleeve cap.  It's a fabric-efficient pattern; I can get 3/4 sleeves with bias binding out of one wide yard, and this cap sleeve version can be cut from 1/2 a wide yard, but no bias binding.

The agave linen I used on the skirt goes with almost everything.  It's a great strange neutral.  I squeaked the skirt out of 1 yard, cut extremely carefully.  There were fumes of fabric left.   

It's been pretty hot the last little while here, so I'm extra grateful for these workhorse pieces!