The new ruched front tops I recently made are so simple to sew and super comfortable to wear, too.  I decided to make these after seeing some tops like this somewhere and I liked the look.   I didn’t even have to go and buy another pattern, thankfully, since I have quite a few already.  

The red top in the photo just above is the first one I made.  I bought this fabric on clearance and I decided to use something that wasn’t real expensive in case the top didn’t turn out.  Well, it did turn out and I have already wore it several times.  I am glad the clearance fabric is soft and washes well.

After making the light red color one in a knit fabric I decided to make one in a cotton fabric.  I love good quality cotton fabrics and I think some of the cottons I find at quilt shops make great fabrics for clothes and bags, too.

I have plenty of cotton fabric in my stash and I had this one in a pretty summer looking floral.  I have had it for a couple of years as I remember I made a skirt with some of it and a bag, too, a couple of years ago – both of them I still have and wear-use.  I really like how this one turned out bright and colorful and I have a couple of pairs of shorts to wear with it.

Both versions of this top turned out well.  In my opinion though the knit one has a better drape and look to it for this type of design.

How To Make a Ruched Front:

To make a top like this you just need to know how to sew and to gather fabric.  You will need a two piece pattern for a top with a front and back and a small cap sleeve or even a sleeveless top.  Below are some photos on how to create the ruched front.

I used a pattern for a cap sleeve top that I have designed from the Bernina My Label program I own.  I recommend using pattern drafting material – its kind of like interfacing – and tracing your top front pattern piece so you don’t ruin your actual pattern.  (mine is kind of wrinkled in the photo from use and also from a cat who likes to sit on it)  You will just need one side of the front traced.  Then draw lines which start at the center front and extend almost to the side edge.  You can see in my photo above I have 6 slash lines.  Cut these lines and then spread them apart to open the center front – this is the part that will be gathered.  I used some tape to hold the slashes about 1 to 2 inches apart.  I then retraced the pattern piece.  

Above is the photo of my cut out pattern piece and the marked areas for where I gathered the fabric.  To do this I just ran two long basting stitches on each side of the front piece and then pulled them up to gather until the lower part of the top seemed straight.  I then placed the fronts right sides together and sewed them.  You may want to sew an extra row of stitching to hold the gathers in place.  I then just finished the top according to the pattern.  Super fun and simple to sew.

What projects are you currently working on?  Click on Leave a Reply and tell me about them.

Have a great day!

Kimberlee