The lovely Chloe Top and Dress is the newest pattern by Silversaga and is a perfect top and dress pattern for Summer. I love the flowy a-line shape and the versatility that this pattern has! This is definitely one of my favorite, and most made, patterns by Silversaga and in this post I share my thoughts on the pattern, any modifications I made and the fabric details for all the versions I’ve made (5!).
I love having the option for adding sleeves or going sleeveless for a cute summer dress or top. The fit is really forgiving and there is plenty of ease in the waist and hips making it so comfortable and breezy to wear. The Chloe Top and Dress is beginner friendly and one of the more simple designs by Silversaga Patterns. You can see all the other Silversaga dresses and tops I’ve made in my post here.
The Pattern
The design of the Chloe Top and Dress by Silversaga Patterns is inspired by vintage chemise dresses and includes two different views in 3 lengths – top, mini, and midi length – and a sleeveless or sleeved option. View A is a plain front top and View B has a button placket and both Views have an adjustable neckline. The pattern difficulty is beginner friendly and you can find more details about sizing, fabric suggestions and requirements on their website.
I enjoyed being part of the testing group for the Chloe Top and Dress for both phases of the pattern development. This pattern started out as just a sleeveless top/dress but half way through testing, the designer Jessica drafted a sleeve option to give it more versatility. The fit of the Chloe Top and Dress went through quite a few subtle changes and was fine tuned to work sleeveless, with sleeves, and as a top or dress in either length. It was not required, but I made 5 different versions throughout the testing window – the fit just got better and better after each adjustment to the pattern!
If you need some inspiration, be sure to check out all the lovely tester versions in the Chloe Top and Dress gallery.
The Fit
The midi length is on the longer side of midi length and same with the mini length – it hits me right above the knee. For reference I am 5’3″ and I didn’t make a any adjustments to the length on any of my dress versions. The top is on the short side and works well for high waisted bottoms, but I would probably lengthen it about 1″ (2.5 cm) on future versions. I made a size 6 (EU36) for all versions which is my typical size in Silversaga Patterns (my bust is 34″).
I love the fit on me and didn’t need to make any adjustments to the armholes or neckline. I do prefer a lower armhole depth, so depending on your personal preference you might want to make a toile to make sure the depth is ok for you. Since the neckline is adjustable, you can control the height! However, if you want to adjust the height, there are instructions included in the pattern.
The elastic is intended to fit a little looser on the sleeves to make sure they’re still breezy and comfortable in warmer weather. I cut my elastic longer and then tried it on to check the fit before sewing up the elastic channel.
The a-line shape is nicely balanced and gives plenty of ease in the waist and hips but I don’t find it too overwhelming on me. If you wanted a more cinched look, you could make a second neckline tie to use as a belt around the waist. I did this for one version which you can see further below in this post.
How does the Chloe Top compare to the Celine Blouse?
If you’ve been following the patterns released by Silversaga, you may be wondering what the differences are between the Chloe Top and the Celine Blouse. Since I have sewn both, here is my comparison between the two tops!
Sleeves – At a glance, the sleeved version of the Chloe Top does look really similar to the Celine Blouse, especially when the Celine is made without the neckline ruffle, but the main difference between the two are the sleeves and how they are drafted. The design of the Celine Blouse was centered around those lovely full sleeves while the Chloe Top was designed to fit well with sleeves, or without. The sleeves of the Chloe Top are intentionally simple, with less volume and hit higher up on the arm. The Celine Blouse sleeves have more volume at the shoulder, have that extra ruffle at the hem and they are longer, hitting about halfway on the upper arm (depending on your arm length or how tight you have the elastic).
If I had to choose between the two, I prefer the more casual sleeves of the Chloe Top. While the Celine Blouse sleeves are beautiful, the volume and extra ruffle at the hem feel a little too “fancy” on me for everyday wear.
Sewing difficulty – The Celine Blouse has a sewing difficulty of Experienced Beginner and the Chloe Top and Dress is Beginner friendly. The lack of extra ruffles and gathers make the Chloe Top slightly easier to sew, but both patterns have a button placket option with the method on the Celine being slightly different.
Views – Like the name says, the Chloe Top and Dress has both a dress and top option with two views to mix and match with or without sleeves. The Celine Blouse is just a blouse, but has six different design views to choose from plus some ideas to hack the pattern into a dress or sleeveless option.
Adjustable neckline vs. fixed – The Chloe Top and Dress has a adjustable neckline with ties that moves freely throughout the whole drawstring channel. This does involve making buttonholes, but the instructions explain the process very well. The ties are only decorative on the Celine Blouse and the gathers at the back and front neckline are fixed before sewing the bias binding on.
This may be an unpopular opinion, but I think I prefer the fixed neckline of the Celine Blouse! Even though I do like the functionality of the adjustable drawstring I tend to be fidgety and keep messing with the gathers to get them “perfect.”
Neckline height – One last difference I should mention is the neckline depth. The Celine Blouse has a deep neckline and I prefer to raise the neckline so it sits higher. The Chloe Blouse neckline depth is drafted higher and I didn’t make any modifications to the neckline to any of my versions! And plus, the adjustability of the neckline means you can easily adjust the height.
If you want to read more about the adjustments and hacks I’ve made, head over to my full Celine Blouse review.
Sleeveless Celine Blouse Hack vs. Chloe Top
The Chloe Top was first inspired by the sleeveless Celine Blouse hack so it makes sense that they look very similar! If you already own the Celine, it’s very easy to hack it without sleeves. But if you also want a pattern with more options, like a button band, two dress lengths, and short summer sleeves then it’s worth trying the Chloe! Here are the main differences between the two:
Neckline – Like I’ve mentioned, the neckline is adjustable on the Chloe Top and the neckline sits a lot lower on the Celine Blouse so you may need to make adjustments.
Armholes – The Chloe Top was intentionally drafted to be a sleeveless and the armhole depth was tested and fine tuned to fit comfortably across all sizes. The Celine Blouse armscye (or armhole) was designed to have sleeves and the sleeveless hack was only a suggestion at the back of the pattern. Since it wasn’t specifically tested as a sleeveless design, I would suggest making a toile in case you need to make any changes to the armhole.
Views – If you’re looking to make a sleeveless Celine Blouse hack, then you’ll have the benefit of choosing a neckline or hem ruffle. The Chloe Top doesn’t include specific instructions to add these ruffle, but does suggest the hack at the back of the instructions.
Fabric
The suggested fabric for the Chloe Top and Dress are woven lightweight fabrics like cotton lawn, voile, lightweight linen or cotton blockprints.
Cotton will be the easiest to sew with and will give your top or dress a more structured drape and choosing linen will give a lovely drape but can be more challenging to sew with. One thing I noticed when using linen is the gathers at the neckline tend to slide around more compared to cotton. Not a big deal, but you may need to readjust the neckline as the linen “grows” throughout the day.
Version 1 (Green Floral)
For my first version of the Chloe Dress, I used a lightweight floral crinkle cotton in ecru and olive green from Blackbird Fabrics which is so soft with a voluminous drape. This fabric was really easy to sew with and the neckline gathers so beautifully! It is slightly see-through so I need to whip up a slip to go with this dress. I also made a second drawstring to use as a belt and I think I prefer this version better with the cinched-in waist.
Version 2 (Mini Gingham Linen)
I love this fabric for the Chloe Dress so much! I used a lightweight mini gingham linen in a light green from The Linen Lab. The flowy drape is amazing and so perfect to wear on hot summer days. (You can use the code BETHANYLYNNE_MAKES for 10% off your order). This lightweight linen was a little trickier to sew with, but staystitching the armhole and neckline really helps the fabric not to grow too much during the sewing process.
Version 3 (Quilting Cotton)
During testing, I had the idea to make a matching set to wear as PJ’s and I love how it turned out! I had a lot of this quilting cotton that worked perfectly. Quilting cotton typically has quite a crisp drape, but this specific vintage cotton was slightly softer. I’m hoping it will soften even more with wear!
For the drawstrings I used 3/8″ grosgrain ribbon in ivory from Wawak and for the shorts I used the Honeygirl Lounge Set by Paradise Patterns in one size up. This was my first time trying this pattern in a woven fabric (it’s designed for knit fabric) and it worked great! You can read my short review of the Honeygirl Lounge Set in my article, Favorite Sewing Patterns For Knit Fabric.
Version 4 (Cotton Voile)
This fabric is perfect for the Chloe Top, especially if you want some more volume in the sleeves and beautiful definition in the gathers. I used a floaty cotton voile in the color “caper” from Blackbird Fabrics which is so soft and breathable. It was very easy to work with and presses so nicely!
Version 5 (Gingham Linen)
The last version I made of the Chloe Dress was in this amazing soft washed linen in the color “artichoke heart” from Blackbird Fabrics. This linen is just amazing to wear and especially in the a-line shape of this dress that makes it very swishable. 🙂
Modifications
Since I was testing the fit of the Chloe Top and Dress I really didn’t make many modifications until nearer to the end. So the only mod I ended up making was lengthening the sleeves 1/2″ (1.3 cm) on my gingham knee length version (see photos above). The sleeves have been lengthened slightly for the final version, so you may not need to make this change if you like the look of the sleeves as is!
One other thing I tried was tacking down the drawstring at the neckline after adjusting the back neckline gathers. To do this, I carefully hand sewed a couple of stitches to just the bias binding on the inside of the neckline. This worked pretty well and makes only the front neckline adjustable. However a more discreet place to sew the tacks could be at the shoulder seams.
Final Thoughts
If you haven’t figured it out yet, I love this pattern and recommend it! Especially if you are a beginner or you’re wanting to try a Silversaga pattern and don’t know where to start – start with this one. 🙂 It’s a fairly quick and satisfying sew, beautifully designed and with thorough instructions.
I hope you found this review helpful or gave you some inspiration if you’re wanting to make your own Chloe Top or Dress. Thanks for reading!
Thank you so much for the detailed overview!! Especially the comparison of the Celine and Chloe patterns. As someone who is waffling between which one to purchase (first), this helps loads. I know it takes extra effort to document photos and take notes on your thoughts and changes, so I really do appreciate it
Hi Jocelyn,
You’re so welcome! I’m happy to hear that the comparison was helpful in helping you decide which one to make first! 🙂
-Bethany
This was a wonderful read, and every version of Chloe is just beautiful! Thank you for being such a valuable tester, Bethany – and such a creative resource for the whole community.
This review is so helpful. I would pay good money to get this quality of informative detail for any pattern I buy! I’ve really wanted to try one of the many beautiful Silversaga patterns for a year or two, but I just hate the look of puffed sleeves on my body. I think this sleeveless option is a perfect starting point for me. Thank you for putting this truly helpful information out into the community. Such a public service!