Sew a linen wardrobe for the whole summer

A summer wardrobe in linen can be sewn from six patterns: wide-leg pull-on trousers, pull-on shorts, a boxy top and a button-front blouse, a shift dress and a kimono jacket, with a bucket hat from the scraps. Choose the linen weight by garment, a midweight 180–230 gsm for trousers, shorts and the jacket and a light 130–170 gsm for tops and the dress, prewash everything twice, and the eight-piece set takes about 14 m (15 1/4 yd) of 140 cm (55 in) wide fabric.

Why is linen the fabric for a summer wardrobe?

Linen absorbs moisture and releases it fast, conducts heat away from the skin and feels cool to touch, which is why it has been summer cloth for several thousand years. It is strong, it gets softer with every wash, and it takes dye in the muted, slightly uneven colors that look good together without matching. The one objection is wrinkles. Linen creases the moment you sit down, and the choice is to accept the rumpled look, to choose loose shapes where creases hardly show, or to use a linen-viscose or linen-cotton blend for the pieces you want crisper.

Which linen weight suits which garment?

Weight is the number that matters most when buying online. A light linen in trousers is see-through and sags at the knees by lunchtime; a heavy linen in a blouse is a tent. Within a weight, yarn-dyed linens (the stripes and chambray-like weaves) wrinkle slightly less than piece-dyed ones because of the tighter weave. Sewing with linen explains how to read a listing and what to expect from each weight.

Which eight pieces, and from which patterns?

Two garments many people want in linen are not on this list: a shirt with a collar stand and a linen blazer. Both are tailoring, with a collar to draft and interface or a shoulder to shape. The button-front blouse with a plain neckline or a small band and the kimono jacket are the closest shapes, and in linen they are what most summer shirts and jackets actually look like once the collar has softened.

How do you sew linen trousers that hold their shape?

Wide legs are linen's best friend: the fabric hangs from the hip in straight folds and creases fall out as you walk. Choose a 200 gsm linen, cut the leg to the ankle and finish the waist with a 4 cm (1 5/8 in) elastic in a casing, or a flat front with elastic at the back only, which hides under an untucked top. The wide-leg linen trousers tutorial gives the steps and the pocket method.

Linen frays, and trousers are washed often, so finish the seams properly: a serged edge, a flat-felled seam on the outseam, or French seams in the lighter weights. Shorts are the same pattern in 1 m of fabric, and in a wardrobe they are where a stripe or a check goes.

Which tops work best in linen?

The boxy top in a light linen is the most-worn piece of a linen summer. It is a front, a back and a neckline finish, with the sleeves cut in one with the body. A bias facing or a narrow band at the neck keeps it clean. The button-front blouse in handkerchief linen is the dressier top, and the one piece where interfacing matters: fuse a light woven interfacing to the button bands and keep the rest soft. The bias binding necklines guide covers both finishes.

Linen tops grow in wear, so cut them with less ease than the same pattern in cotton: 8 cm (3 1/8 in) at the bust is relaxed enough.

What about the dress and the jacket?

The shift dress in a light linen is the summer dress: straight, knee or midi length, bust darts, in-seam pockets and a neckline faced or bound. It is cool because nothing touches the waist. Cut it with 8–10 cm (3–4 in) of ease at the hip so it does not crease across the lap when you sit. The shift dress tutorial has the full order.

The kimono jacket in midweight linen is the layer for evenings and for the office air conditioning. Cut at hip length with three-quarter sleeves, unlined, with the seams finished as French seams so the inside is as clean as the outside. In a darker neutral than the rest of the wardrobe it goes over every piece.

Which colors make a linen wardrobe work together?

Linen comes into its own in undyed and muted colors: oatmeal, natural flax, white, navy, olive, terracotta, a faded black. Put the neutrals on the trousers, the skirt and the jacket, the colors on the tops and the shorts, and allow one stripe. Buy the whole wardrobe's neutral in one order, because linen dye lots vary and a trousers-and-jacket pairing in two slightly different navies looks like a mistake. The capsule wardrobe plan explains the two-neutrals-one-accent rule and the outfit arithmetic.

How do you prepare and sew linen so it lasts?

Prewash twice, hot, and tumble dry if that is how you will wash the clothes: linen shrinks 3–8% in length and keeps shrinking a little in the second wash. The prewash guide explains why the second wash matters. Press while damp with a hot iron and plenty of steam, and press each seam before crossing it with another; linen that is pressed well at every step looks tailored even in a boxy shape.

Use a universal 80/12 needle, a 2.5–3 mm stitch, and cotton or polyester thread. Staystitch necklines the moment they are cut, because linen is loosely woven and the bias of a neckline stretches in handling. Hem trousers and the dress with a 3 cm (1 1/4 in) double-fold hem, which gives weight to the edge and stops it from flipping.

In what order should you sew the linen wardrobe?

1. Shorts, to test the elastic length and your seam finishes.
2. Boxy top, the fastest win.
3. Wide-leg trousers, with the pockets.
4. A-line skirt, your first zip.
5. Shift dress, darts and a facing.
6. Button-front blouse, buttonholes.
7. Kimono jacket, long seams and French seams.
8. Bucket hat, from the scraps of everything above.

Six patterns fitted once give eight garments that go together, and once the trouser block fits, each new pair takes an afternoon. If you are drafting the patterns made to measure, set the seam allowance to 1.5 cm (5/8 in) for all the woven pieces so the French seams come out the same on every garment.