I first made the Deliah top by Viki Sews back in early 2020. I remember wanting a top pattern with a bit of spunk but without too many tricky details. I had just made four button up blouses and needed to work on something simple in comparison.

Deliah is described as a blouse pattern with large volume, straight silhouette with a dropped shoulder line. The sleeve has a boule (ball) cut with two pleats at the top of the sleeve head as well as pleats on the front of the sleeve at the level of the elbow line.  The darts are part of the neckline. The shoulder, side and sleeve seams are finished with a French seam, the bottom of the top is finished with a double turned hem. On the back of the blouse there a hinged loop and a button. The neckline, the sleeve hems and the armhole seam are meant to be finished with bias binding.

As always, I mainly followed the pattern instructions but each version of the pattern I’ve done something slightly different with the construction.

As this pattern is meant to be oversized I decided to size down to size 40 (normally i’m a 42/44 in a Viki Sews pattern depending on the ease). I chose my standard 162 – 165 cm height range.

This fabric of this top – a cotton voile – is quite sheer so I decided to line the front and back bodice with nude cotton voile. I followed this tutorial but ONLY for the neckline part of the top. The sleeves are attached as normal and are finished with overlocking.

The next version of the Deliah was inspired by the fabric. I purchased a remnant of Rosa in navy from Drapers. You know when you find something and it just feels perfect? That’s what this felt like! I knew I needed to sew it up as soon as possible!

As the fabric is sheer I decided to line the front and back bodice in the same way as my first version of the garment. I used a mid-tone blue cotton voile from my stash and left the sleeves sheer for extra drama. I found the sleeves of my first version very tight at the lower arm so allowed a bit more room it is much more comfortable than the first version. I finished the end of the sleeve hems with bias binding as per the instructions.

The third version of this top is made in this luscious silk from The Fabric Store. I was thinking of making a button up but decided on the Deliah as I didn’t want to break up the print. I was glad I did as I didn’t enjoy sewing this fabric. No matter which sewing needle I tried the fabric developed these tiny runs in it. It isn’t visible on the right side of the fabric but it makes me think it is a second going from that and from the markings on the selvedge.

I created facings for the front and back neckline instead of using bias binding as per the pattern instructions. On a fabric like silk I think it looks best to have no visible stitching around the neckline as it looks more high-end. I sewed the darts in the front of the top then cut the facing so then I didn’t have to sew darts in both! The back neck facing is just the top part of the pattern allowing around 1.5 inches lower than the bottom of the keyhole opening. I accidently sewed the sleeves on this top backwards! I am not going to unpick it as they look great on and the fabric might not take being unpicked and resewn. It isn’t as durable as silks I’ve sewn with in the past but it feels gorgeous so all is forgiven 🙂

If you are afraid of silk don’t be – give it a go and let me know if you have any tips in the comments. I will be washing this in a lingerie bag on a cold water wash like all my delicates. Deliah has reached maximum capacity in my wardrobe but I love how different each version turned out.

I hope you are keeping safe and well!

Happy sewing x