I’ve always loved a camisole – they’re so cute and delicate and really rather practical when you’re layering up!

I’ve made a couple over the years (though one of my faves is still an old Forever 21 one!) some with great success and others, well, not so great. Mostly I think it’s to do with the fact that most camisoles don’t seem to have any darts! And for anyone on the larger end of cup sizes, darts and shaping really is quite important.

Mostly I’ve always drafted my own camis but I thought I’d try a pattern for once! And since these tops use very little yardage, I liked the idea of perfecting a cami pattern and having it as my go-to to use up any leftover fabric.

I picked out the Portia camisole from Style Arc. (I’ll be honest though, I probably got it just because it was on sale at the time rather than I really needed it…).

It’s a camisole with a little twist of buttons down the front, darts and a facing to finish. I figured it would be easy enough to make it without the buttons for a plain version too!

My first attempt was with some viscose I had lying around from a goodie bag. And boy was I glad I used free fabric for it! It ended up pulling all over the place and it also clearly showed that interfacing is definitely not a good idea as it left the whole thing really stiff!

So I ended up taking the front bodice and doing an FBA. This automatically gave me a little more ease around the body too which I really needed. I then added a little more room around the hips just to be on the safe side! I drew out a buttonless version for me to use as well and then drafted new facings to match.

My first attempt after this was pretty successful! I used a remnant piece of navy crepe that was gifted to me by Kate (Time to Sew) and made this!

Super basic but so necessary in my wardrobe!

I did find this one slightly too wide st the hip and also a bit long – two things I corrected in my most recent version!

This white button front version was shortened by 4cm and some of the width at the hip reduced. I chose to fully line it instead of using a facing as the fabric was a little sheer.

Instead of putting in proper buttons, I sewed the buttons on through the two layers. It meant saving time and faff on buttonholes which I knew wouldn’t be used!

I have a feeling I’m going to be wearing this top a LOT. As much as I love all the bright fun and flouncy clothes I’ve made, most of the time I need just need things like this!!