As Seen on TV

January 20, 2026

Do you fall in love with clothes you see on TV? I do it all the time. Sometimes after I watch a show, I’ll watch it a second time just to look at the clothes. Once in a while, something really stands out and I can’t shake the need to have one of my very own. That’s exactly how a certain white linen top made it into my collection. It turns out that I’m not the only one that does this. Sometimes my clients do it, too.

Screenshot from Our Miracle Years

That was the case with this top and I can see why she fell in love with it. The pleating detail at the neck is so beautiful and unusual. Even though this show takes place shortly after WWII, the top is timeless. Whenever I get a project like this, my first step is to see if I can find a pattern that’s similar, even if it needs a few changes to get it to match the inspiration. If I can’t find a pattern, I check to see if there is anything useful in the patterns that I’ve already made for them. Even though the pattern might not be very close to the inspiration, this approach has the advantage of starting as something I know fits them. If there’s nothing useful there, I draft from scratch. There’s nothing wrong with drafting from scratch. It’s just the longest of the three options.

I couldn’t find a pattern with a similar neckline to this one so I checked through the patterns we had already made. Luckily I found a good starting point and we didn’t have to draft from scratch. This pyjama top that we made is essentially the basic version of the pleated top from the show. I had also made her a tank top that had bust darts. I used the back of the pyjama top as is for this pleated version. For the front, I used the tank top and added the sleeves from the pyjama top. I rotated the bust darts from the centre front up to the neck line and then changed the dart to pleats.

She also had the perfect fabric for this top. This beautiful rosebud silk used to be a skirt that she was happy to repurpose. I thought the pleat detail might get lost with such a dark fabric but the beautiful lustre of the silk took care of this concern.

Because this top is so close to the neck, we had to add an opening at the back. I have a small collection of buttons that I keep in colour-coded jars. At the bottom of the red/pink jar I found this sweet, little, pink one. It was the perfect way to finish up the project.