Usually I find recommendations for sewing patterns from other sewists across resources like Instagram, but I took a plunge with the free Tina Tie Cropped Top from Sewmag.co.uk, which I found by browsing their free pattern archives.
I'm glad I did, because this was a roaring success.
The Tina Top has cute details like cheeky slits across the front top and bottom, a back button fastening and tie sleeves.
I used Duck Egg Gingham Linen from The Fabric Store, which is 140cm wide, and I used less than a meter, even while taking care to pattern-match.
The pattern is available in UK sizes 8-20. I cut the smallest size, UK/AU 8 and it's a perfect fit (I'm normally an 8-10).
The part that took the longest was matching the gingham across the front and back seams when cutting out, otherwise the rest came together quite quickly for me.
There are no pictures in the instructions, so I'd recommend this pattern for intermediate sewists with an established understanding of garment construction.
In general the instructions are good, if basic, however there was one issue I had at step 6. It asks you to fold the sleeve up (right sides together) along the line, matching the dots, but the dots don't match at all! I ignored the dots and just used the indicated line and it worked perfectly. Note: you still need the upper dote to show where to stitch from, so don't disregard it entirely!
My only other change was that I found the upper front slit to be a little long for me, so I closed it up a little more from the bottom.
Since wearing this top a bunch (it goes particularly well with my linen Palisade Pants, as pictured below!) it needs a repair as the sleeves are perhaps a touch too tight and I've broken the stitching down the middle of one sleeve! It's a simple fix and I'll just stop the stitching a bit higher this time.
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