This top was my inspiration for this project. This little gem came from Gilt and Gossamer in Eugene by the brand Lush. I think it's a faux linen poly mix fabric. I had the Ogden Cami by True Bias pattern in my collection and I thought hmm... that's a very similar style - let's make a tie front hack!
I untied my RTW inspiration garment and tried to copy the shape. This is the partial lining of the Ogden Cami which I am moving to the outside of the garment and I'm modifying the shape. This the front lining piece which will become the tie front. So we won't cut the piece on the fold but instead we will draw an extension of the front piece where you would normally cut on the fold (see above). I had to draw this a few times and I went with the shape on the bottom.
This is the the tie front top shape that we made out of the partial lining piece. I have now cut it out - see how it looks similar to my RTW top? You can also see that I added a diagonal shape to the left side - I drew from the seam allowance and went out about an inch to give more flounce to the lining. It will connect at the top of the cami and will go out at the sides because of this extra ease on the left side flounce.
I also folded over the bottom of the new tie front to straighten out the hem of this new piece. See above photo and the one above this one shows my new fold line.
This is the back partial lining that is becoming the back flounce of the top. I only taped the left side because I made a mistake and cut into it on accident - ignore that. You will also add this little side flounce to the back partial lining so draw a line that starts at the underarm (on the right) and this new line goes out about an inch at the bottom to give the back piece a nice flounce. Redraw the side notch. You will cut this piece on the fold at the fold line.
I also cropped the cami portion of this top by several inches and gave it a flatter silloheutte by folding up the pattern piece.
Here are my cut out pattern pieces in the lovely neutral Smokey Quartz Cotton Linen which is a designer deadstock gem. When I buy designer deadstock, I am wandering around a massive warehouse that has tens of thousands of bolts. I was lucky to find this gem - a linen cotton blend in slate gray with gorgeous deep purple undertones. For those that are unfamiliar, deadstock fabric is the leftover remnants from fashion designers. I love deadstock because you find unique one of a kind fabrics and they tend to be high quality garment fabrics.
Here are the partial lining pieces that we have transformed into the tie front flounce pieces. I serged the outer edge of the pieces but you could zig zag them if you don't have a serger. Then I attached the to each other at the side seams and followed the seam allowance recommended in the pattern.
Here is a preview of what the tie front / flounce will look like.
Sew a baby hem on the flounce pieces before attaching. Here is my baby hem in progress. I tried to make it as small as possible - about 1/4" inch folded twice. It's hard to do the baby hem at the tips of the tie fronts so I winged it and had to do some hand sewing to get everything folded up nicely at those tips.
Next attach your straps to the front of the garment (follow the original instructions for this part).
Now it's time to attach the side flounce to the garment. I had a hard time figuring out how to sew this because you will end up attaching the right side of the flounce to the wrong side of the cami and this feels very wrong if you are used to sewing traditional garments with partial linings!
Follow the instructions for their smart recommendations on how to sew the lining in steps so that you can catch the straps underneath and do the front and then attach the straps to the back before sewing the top of the lining on the backside.
Here is my flounce in progress! We have one half of the tie front so far and you can see how the flounce comes out on the side because of the extra ease we added - so cute!
After the flounce is all nicely attached with the straps included under the flounce, we will serge / zig zag the edges to secure everything. I cut a little notch in the middle of the tie front top under the flounce so that it can lay flat and I just serged over the notch (this is how it was done on my RTW inspiration top).
Next we will understitch - but we are going to understitch on the cami side NOT the flounce because the cami is the side that will be hidden under the flounce. This is different than a traditional partial lining because normally you would understitch on the lining side. This photo shows the top of the tie front where the two pieces come together and touch in the middle.
Then, you just follow the rest of the instructions which I believe is to just hem the bottom of the cami. Try it on first though and make sure you like how its fitting before finishing the piece.
This is my finished Tie Front Hack Ogden Cami in the gorgeous Smokey Quartz Linen Cotton Blend!! I am thrilled with the result - this top is super cute and is easily paired with my high waisted skirts and elastic waist shorts/pants.
I love that the Smokey Quartz Linen Cotton Blend is a neutral but it's a fun purple-toned neutral. I've been sewing with a TON of color and print lately so I wanted to create a versatile staple piece but I didn't want it to be just black or white. It also was a dream to sew - it presses well since it's a natural fiber so you can crank up the heat on the iron.
This top is shown with my self-drafted elastic waist skirt, sewn up in Camp Gingham in Mist from the shop.
What would you sew with the Smokey Quartz Linen??
ETA: This fabric has unfortunately sold out! Deadstock fabrics cannot be reordered so it's important to act fast if you like something.