You may remember that a few weeks ago I showed you some brightly coloured linen that I bought from Calico Laine.

I made this Vogue designer Summer dress from the ‘Pool Blue’ and blogged about it here.

The gorgeous ‘Leaf Green’ was destined to become a tunic top of sorts, but I couldn’t find an off the shelf pattern that I liked enough so I decided to draft my own.

I had several features in mind from other tops I own that I wanted to incorporate, so I played around awhile until I came up with this: –

A one-piece front with a centre front pleat and two horizontal partial pleats running parallel to the hem.

The back was also to be one-piece and would have some added shape in the form of external darts.

It was also to be shorter than the front and there would be slits on both sides.

This is the finished tunic which, from the creases, you can see has been worn quite a bit already.

The inverted centre front pleat was reinforced with a line of top stitching….

…and a couple of coconut shell buttons.

The parallel pleats at the bottom were designed to lift the tunic in the middle leaving the sides to drape lower.

To acheive the desired effect, the pleats were only partial and I only sewed between the pins as shown below.

I like the darts from the dress I made but was happier after securing them flat against the back, so I did the same with this tunic.

Much better!

French seams and narrow hems were used throughout.

The front pleats hang exactly as envisioned….

…and I added a gathered pocket at the last minute, matching the style with a pleat and another coconut shell button.

It’s a little bit stiff at the moment but will soften after the first wash.

I love it – the perfect loose, linen tunic to throw on over a pair of comfy linen trousers and mess around in the garden.

So cool and easy to wear and a lovely cheerful shade of lime green!

I could have brushed my hair for the photo though – I look like a tree with a bird’s nest on the top:)