Category Archives: top

Swooning over ballooning

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Ok, ignore the silly title, but do check out the lovely balloon sleeves I just made. I do adore them! As with many statement sleeves, they don’t play well with most sweaters (better break out the shawl for chilly days and over air-conditioned rooms), but who wants to hide fun sleeves anyway?

I’ve been wanting to make a Pattern Emporium Be Mine Balloon Sleeve top since it first came out a year-and-a-half ago, but didn’t get around to it until now. I even bought the fabric for it a year ago – a light-weight woven rayon floral from knitfabric.com (yes they sell wovens too). I don’t love that you’re not supposed to put it in the dryer (I did wash and dry it before cutting it so that if it does end up in the dryer sometime it has already been shrunk) and that it requires some ironing, but it was nice to work with and it made a lovely top. (Photographed here with my PE Urban Boldly mashup pants in orange LiKnit.)

I made the regular length with the wide facing option and the mid neckline (after much debate and staring at photos from other sewists). I omitted the front seam. I kept the back seam but omitted the button loop (thus the back seam is really not needed but it adds a little detail). I also did all the optional top stitching (there were too many colors in my fabric to pick one that would blend so I used white thread, which provides a little bit of contrast). After reading posts from a number of other women on the smaller end of the size range that they were sizing down because this over-sized top was a bit too big for them, I sized down from an AU10 to an AU8. I also added a 1/2-inch sloped shoulder adjustment, as that seems to usually make tops hang better for me. Otherwise, I sewed the pattern as written.

The top fits me very well in the size 8 (I’m glad I sized down). I’m short so I could potentially shorten the top a bit, but I think it works pretty well at this length. I often have to shorten sleeves, and these certainly come out longer on me than on many other people, but I actually like how the cuffs sit a bit lower on my arms. I’m also really happy with the mid neckline, which comes out as a scoop for me — the low neckline would have been very low on me.

As with all the PE patterns I’ve tried, the instructions for the Be Mine top are quite thorough and easy to follow. I’m not going to lie — the facings and sleeve binding are a lot of work. I used my serger and my sewing machine with three different feet! But if you take the time to do them right they come out beautifully. I didn’t do everything exactly right the first time: I started sewing a sleeve band on the wrong way and started sewing a hem facing upside down. But I recovered from these minor goofs and got back on track and I still got the whole top done in one Saturday afternoon/evening.

Now I need to figure out what fabric to try next (something with easier laundry requirements, maybe a polyester woven or a cotton double gauze). I would also love to try this as a jacket hack so I can wear these gorgeous sleeves in cooler weather.

Her uniform

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I asked my college student what she wanted for her nineteenth birthday and she asked me to make her another pair of her favorite black LiKnit “flowy” pants (PE Urban Boldly pants similar to mine, but adjusted for her taller height).

While I was at it I made her another cropped Bondi (size 4R but graded the waist to a size 0 and then graded the back waist even more, bottom cut at the horizontal waist line shown on the pattern) out of leftover cotton lycra fabric from a shirt I made my husband.

I made her a pair of pants just like this when she went to college, and another pair with the same pattern but in black ponte. I don’t think I have a photo of the ponte pair. She has apparently been wearing these two pairs of pants and the Cleo palazzo pants I made her on repeat all year. In fact I had to rehem two pairs of pants with frayed hems from dragging on the ground and reinforce some threadbare spots.

Short-sleeved Bondis

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Bondi is my most-made pattern, and now that I have it adjusted to perfection, I’m making even more. I made two short-sleeve, screwp-neck, 4p Bondi shirts in one evening. I made one from a yard of seafoam and off-white pencil stripe stretch modal jersey that I bought last Fall from Cali Fabrics because it matched my seafoam pants perfectly. I made the other one from a yard of green frost ITY from stylishfabric.com (the color looks like avocado to me) that I ordered last year while collecting greenish fabric options for my daughter’s prom dress. I was in the middle of a lot of light green sewing so I decided to knock these two out before I took the seafoam thread out of my serger.

I cut the striped shirt out carefully and used my fabric glue stick to match the stripes. I was also careful with my placement of the blue stripe in the neck band. I think it came out better than my previous attempts at striped shirts.

I fused all the hems with HeatnBond Soft Stretch and finished with a cover stitch (which did require changing the thread after all, but I did this last after I was done with all my seafoam sewing). I’m still not great at cover stitching, but each time I do it I try to read some tips or watch a video and I’m slowly getting better at it. I can setup my Triumph for cover stitching pretty quickly now, and I have now mastered the technique of pulling the top threads to the bottom at the end so they can be easily tied off. I also realized I was using the wrong table attachment (the hazard of having too many accessories?) and that was making it harder to sew over seams.

Adjustment!

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I’ve spent the past few months pondering back and shoulder adjustments and trying them out. While making my first Wanderulst dress I realized I needed a swayback adjustment to remove the extra folds of fabric at the back of my waist. But I also noticed that my shoulders slope down quite a bit so I tried a sloped shoulder adjustment as well in my second and third Wanduderlust dresses.

I also noticed that my Sinclair Bondi t-shrts and sweaters didn’t look as good in the back as they did in the front. Here’s one that I made recently in size 6p from rayon/poly/spandex plum sibley brushed sweater knit from Surge Fabrics. The fabric is super soft and stretchy and it fits reasonably well but you can see some minor issues in the back.

Then I made a Bondi sweater with the sloped shoulder adjustment from a washable wool with only about 25% stretch. I noticed that I have more significant drag lines under my arm pits in the back, probably due to the fact that this fabric is not very stretchy. I posted photos in one of the online sewist Facebook groups and someone pointed out to me that my shoulders are both sloped and broad. I set up my cell phone behind me transmitting its camera image to my laptop so I could study my back, and tried on a bunch of different tops and jackets so I could see what was going on.

I made a Bondi t-shirt in size 6p with both sloped and broad shoulder adjustments (and bishop sleeves) from an aqua wide lush poly-spandex fabric from Mily Mae. This was better, but the drag lines were not completely gone.

After studying the black ponte Onyx blazer I made a few months ago, I eventually noticed that the top of the shoulder seam was not actually at the top of my shoulder and had a tendency to slip down my back. I realized that when I pulled my shirt or jacket forward to get the shoulder seam where it belonged, it tended to bunch up around my neck. And this is why I find it uncomfortable to wear most jackets with collars! I thought perhaps what I needed was a forward shoulder adjustment, which involves basically taking the top of the shoulder from the front pattern piece and moving it to the back. I went into Affiinty Designer and moved an inch of the Bondi tshirt pattern (already adjusted for sloped and broad shoulders) from the front to the back and cut out another tshirt. I didn’t take a photo, but the results were not great.

I decided to stick with the sloped and broad shoulder adjustment for my next Bondi in size 4p, made from purple (looks like magenta) monaco rib poly/rayon/spandex from Mily Mae. I think it came out pretty well, despite some minor back issues. I think I’m done adjusting the Bondi for now.

Magnificent Magenta

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I bought three yards of a beautiful magenta ponte fabric from Mily Mae last year because I love the color (it matches the highlights in my hair) and I love working with this kind of ponte (67% Rayon/28% Nylon/5% Spandex). I thought about making a dress out of it, but eventually decided on a magenta suit. I already have a (store-bought, me altered) purple suit, but I don’t have a pink suit. Magenta is on the more purply side of pink, which means it can be interpreted either as pink or purple.

Unfortunately, magenta doesn’t seem to quite match either pink or purple threads, so I had to order several threads online until I found a close match that I could use for top stitching that would blend into the fabric. None of the Gutermann or Coats & Clark threads I ordered were quite right, but Amann Saba all purpose poly wrapped poly core thread tex 30 color 1059 did the trick.

I used the Boo & Lu Onyx blazer pattern for my magenta suit jacket, with the same modifications I used for my hip length grey ponte version with pockets. I had hoped to get the facings interfaced and catching in the top stitching properly this time, but still ran into problems that required extra gluing and fusing to resolve. I still feel there must be a better way to make the facings, and if I make another Onyx maybe I will figure out what it is.

I used the Pattern Emporium Urban Wide Leg pants pattern to make magenta pants to go with the jacket. I haver previously made three tapered and three wide-leg pants with this pattern (plus a few mashups with this pattern and the PE Walk Boldly pants). I made these size AU10 low-rise (which ends up being high-rise on me), with the waist graded in and the waistband modified to be a contour waistband lined in athletic knit and with elastic added. I added front jeans pockets with straight pocket openings.

Last winter I also bought some super soft purple 86% Poly/12% Rayon/2% Spandex Monaco Rib fabric from Mily Mae, and it turns out to be almost the exact same color as the magenta ponte. Why they don’t call them both by the same name is a mystery to me, but regardless, I clearly needed to make a rib-knit sweater to go with my suit. I used my favorite Sinclair Bondi classic fitted t-shirt patten in size 4p hip length with a screwp neck, adjusted slightly for a broad and sloped shoulder. I cover stitched the hems, using the magenta thread spool and a bobbin wound with the same thread for the needle threads.

The whole outfit looks great together, and I will wear it as a suit with my matching magenta booties! I expect I will also wear the pieces as separates. Although this is a color I wear year round (I also have a cashmere sweater and a winter parka in this color), to me it is really a spring color.

April update: I couldn’t resist some magenta jacket photos with the magnificent magnolia trees in front of my house!

My new best (sweater) friend

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Winters in Pittsburgh are generally relatively mild, but we’ve had more cold days than usual this winter, and the forecast for this coming week predicts more snow and below-freezing temps. I like the instant gratification of sewing in-season items that I can wear right away, so I tend to only sew warm sweaters in the winter and lightweight dresses in the summer. I bought a whole bunch of heavy sweater knits on sale at the end of last winter and only sewed some of them before it got too warm to contemplate wearing them. I was in the middle of futzing with suit jacket pattern adjustments, but decided this week’s forecast called for a new heavy sweater: Something warm and snuggly that can be thrown on over multiple layers and worn on repeat both around the house and outside.

I’ve previously made three Pattern Emporium Sweet Cheeks “roomy” sweaters. But I sized down three sizes to an AU4 and made them all at the cropped length so that they wouldn’t be so roomy. I made a brown mid-scoop neck and a green v-neck out of brushed hacci knit and a purple v-knit out of stretch sweatshirt fleece. This time I decided to go full-on roomy, slouchy and made my normal AU10 size hip length and with a v-neck. I made the pattern without any adjustments other than shortening the sleeves by 1 inch and slightly reducing the diameter of the wrist bands. I used Morraine double cashmere sweater knit from Surge Fabrics in the kelp color. This is a soft 320 gsm 44.5%Rayon/35.9%Poly/19.6%Nylon fabric with 4-way stretch. I used matching Banff ultra thinck 1×1 rib sweater knit for the v-neck, cuffs, and bottom band. (I like the kelp color, even though it isn’t purple. My daughter has a thrifted wool sweater in this color that she wears constantly and I had to darn it when she was home over winter break.)

I cut the sweater out yesterday morning and sewed it all together after dinner. I’m getting better at making all the bands, but they still take some effort. My normal size is, indeed, very roomy, but not too roomy. I think going one size down would still be roomy enough, and if I was using a lighter-weight fabric I think I would want to size down. The hip length gives a very different look than the cropped length, and I like them both. I’m modeling these with PE urban tapered pants in black ponte, but they also look great with leggings or jeans, including my wide-leg cargo jeans for a totally relaxed and slouchy look. (Also, I made the necklace at a ceramics party a few years ago.)

Still sweet

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I was so pleased with my Pattern Emporium Sweet Cheeks cropped v-neck sweater in sweatshirt fleece that I decided to make another one in brushed hacci. This time I used the peat moss color of the versailles brushed hacci sweater knit from Surge Fabrics. This is the same polyester/spandex fabric I used previously for the scoop neck version in a different color. It is brushed on the inside so it is super soft and cuddly. Once again I sized down from an AU8 to an AU4 so it would be less oversized.

It was still a lot of work. I love the split hem band detail, but it takes some effort for proper alignment. The v-neck and the arm bands also take some time. That said, I did finish it all in one day yesterday (even with only limited use of my right hand after surgery) so it didn’t take that long and the instructions are very good.

One thing I like to do that isn’t in the instructions is to zigzag over the raw edges of the bands with a wide and shallow stitch before attaching them to keep the layers of fabric aligned and prevent them from curling under. It takes a little bit of time but saves having to unpick and redo when a layer slips out of place (which has happened to me multiple times on other projects). I’ve seen fabric glue recommended to do the same thing and I’ve tried it and found it doesn’t work as well for me as you have to wait for the glue to dry and on some fabrics it doesn’t seem to hold well.

Sweet fleece

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I enjoyed sewing and wearing my charcoal grey soft cozy Polartec sweatshirt fleece Pattern Emporium Urban Tapered Pants so much that I decided to make a Pattern Emporium Sweet Cheeks Sweater (sweatshirt) in purple to coordinate. I bought the purple Polartec fleece from Surge Fabrics. It is very similar to the charcoal grey Polartec fleece from Califabrics that I used for the pants. Both are very smooth on the outside and fluffy on the inside.

This is my second Sweet Cheeks Sweater. I previously made one in a lighter weight brown brushed hacci sweater knit to go with my pink plaid Walk Boldy pants (but actually I wear it with all sorts of things). Last time I made the mid-neck cropped length, and sized down from an AU8 to an AU 4 so it wouldn’t be so oversized. This time I did the same combo but switched up the neck to a V-neck. I really like the V-neck but it was more work to assemble. The sweater has more structure with the sweatshirt fleece than the hacci, which gives it a somewhat different look and causes the cropped length to sit a bit higher (more cropped). I like it both ways!

I’m really happy with the sweater, but note that it includes several components that require an extra step or two in order to get good results. The V-neck and bottom bands (see photo below for all these sharp details and a peak at my Triumphant surging) require some extra basting and alignment and the sleeve cuffs must be gathered and basted too. The pattern comes with terrific instructions and tips for how to do this, and I’m pretty pleased with my results. All of these features add too a really nice looking garment. Still, these steps take time and effort. I think the sweatshirt fleece was a little less forgiving than the hacci I used previously, which caused me to go even slower to prevent any mishaps. Nonetheless, I already have plans to make this pattern again! At some point I would like to try the hip length version and maybe also a t-shirt version without the sleeves.

Fall Liknit

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A while ago I bought a couple of yards of PyLos LiKnit in almost every color. I’ve previously used the black, seafoam, lavender, and linen colors. There are also several lovely warm Fall colors that I have been contemplating using in coordinating garments for months.

I started with a pair of orange pants (LiKnit “metal rust” color), very similar to my previous Pattern Emporium Urban Boldly mashup pants with the low rise size AU 10 Urban pants mashed with the Walk Boldly wide leg and a high contour waistband lined in athletic knit. This time I tweaked the contour waistband a bit from my last mashup and sewed half-inch elastic into the waistband.

I wanted a LiKnit top to go with the pants. I previously had made a black Sinclair Bondi LiKnit top, but I find the LiKnit doesn’t quite stretch enough around the bust and has drag lines, even though I sized up. I decided either darts or a boxier cut was probably needed for a LiKnit top so I went with the Sinclair Loop drop shoulder knit top pattern, which I had previously used to make a sweater. I made this one in Marsala LiKnit with the scoop neck, cropped length, simple hemmed bottom. I think this pattern works well with the LiKnit fabric. The LiKnit stretches surprisingly well for the neck band. I would like to try this pattern with a narrower neck band too. I think the split hem might also work well with this fabric.

I actually finished the top and pants back in August and took them on my Switzerland trip. I didn’t post these photos earlier because I have plans to complete my me-made Fall ensemble with a jacket made from light mustard LiKnit. But I’ve been super busy with other things, my sewing machine is in the shop, and I need to finish a quilt and some pants for my daughter before I sew any more clothes for myself. So the mustard jacket may not materialize for a while. In the mean time, I’ve been wearing the outfit with a store-bought purple sweater. I also have a surprising number of other tops and jackets in my wardrobe that go with orange pants… who knew?

Before I took my youngest daughter to college in August, she insisted that I make her some more black “flowy pants.” She has a pair of black LiKnit pants I made using the Sinclair Cleo pattern extended into palazzo pants that she wears pretty much non-stop. They have held up really well through lots of wear and wash and dry cycles. They are not stretched out and have no pilling. Unfortunately, they did come in contact with a spot of bleach, so there is a light spot that my daughter periodically colors in with a black sharpie. Anyway, she asked for another pair of black LiKnit flowy pants, as well as black ponte pants for cooler weather. She is about the same size as me but taller and a little slimmer so I used the same Pattern Emporium Urban Boldly mashup approach with the same base size as I used for my orange pants, but added 1.5 inch to the waist height (basically the high-rise version plus an extra half inch) and didn’t shorten the leg before hemming. The pants fit her very well and she loves them, but I didn’t manage to get a photo before she packed them up to take to college. She asked me to make another pair just like them in black ponte and send them to her.

October update: Ponte pants finished and delivered. She was wearing the LiKnit pants when I saw her so I got photos of the LiKnit pants (outside) and the ponte pants (inside).

Lovie Dovie

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Last winter when Petite Stitchery introduced the adult Dovie longlline crop and dress pattern, I knew my teen daughter would love it. Sure enough, I showed her the pattern and for months she kept asking me when I would make it for her. She picked out a 180 gsm light sage green polyester/spandex yummy rib fabric from Surge Fabric and I finally got around to sewing her dress. I sewed the size XS knee length option with the regular front neckline (there is also a lower cut option). The bodice is lined and I used the same fabric for the lining.

The dress was pretty quick to sew — I would have finished the whole thing in one afternoon/evening, except that I added pockets (not in the pattern) and that took extra time so I had to finish hemming it and sew the shoulder ties the next day. The pattern instructions were ok, but could have been clearer. I’m spoiled by Sinclair and Pattern Emporium, which provide very detailed instructions and tips in their patterns. This pattern offered on a little advice on what type of stitches to use (I ended up using a shallow zigzag on my sewing machine for most of it and surging around the waistband, pocket bags, and sides of the skirt) or detailed fabric recommendations for dress and lining (I lined it with the same fabric as the dress but saw suggestions in the Facebook group for lining with power mesh or athletic knit for more support). The pattern also inexplicably is calibrated off by a factor of 10. All of the measurements in the pattern have to be multiplied by 10 (my projector calibration setting is 12.8% for all the other pattern companies but is 128% for PS) — easy to do but why? This pattern uses the burrito method to make the lined bodice straps, and I would probably have been stumped by the instructions if I hadn’t just made a Sinclair Bloom top that used the same technique. I briefly thought I was supposed to attach the waistband to the bodice and the lining waistband separately to the lining, but after pinning it that way figured out that all four layers get sewn together at once.

The pattern suggested that this dress would require 2 7/8 yards of fabric, but from looking at the pieces for size XS, I figured I could make it in less than 2 yards. Indeed, I had almost half a yard left from my 2-yard piece of fabric. I think the crop top version could be made out of leftovers from other projects.

The pattern suggests adding clear elastic in several places, some of which didn’t seem necessary to me. I ended up adding clear elastic to the horizontal part of the front and back neckline as well as right under the bust.

My daughter and I agree that pockets are required on all dresses, so I borrowed the pocket pattern from the Sinclair Yasmin dress and added deep pockets that easily hold a cell phone. The waistband provides sufficient anchoring for pockets and there is enough room at the hips that the pockets do not show through the skirt (although if you put enough in them they will obviously show). My daughter went out with friends and put her phone and wallet in the pockets and came back and told me the big pockets were great and her friends were jealous.

My daughter is about 5’5″ and the knee length comes exactly to her knee. I’m a few inches shorter so would probably cut the skirt about three inches shorter for me.

This is a super cute pattern. The optional (and removable) shoulder ties take it up a level of cuteness too. The cup size options make it easy to get a good fit at the bust. In the Facebook group people report that if you use supportive enough fabric for the lining the dress can be worn without a bra.

After I finished making my daughter’s dress, I decided it was so cute that I needed a crop top for myself. Except I don’t actually wear crop tops so I took the size small Dovie crop top pattern and added an extra 2.5 inches to the waistband height (extending a total of 5 inches, but it gets folded in half). I used about 2/3 yard of lavender DBP.

I cut and sewed the entire bodice in about 2 hours, having already figured everything out for the dress. The waistband assembly is a bit different for the top, and that’s where I got a bit stumped and there was some trial and error until I landed on the following approach that worked very well for me. I sewed up the sides of the waistband to form a tube and folded it in half so that it has an outer and lining piece. I aligned and pinned the raw edges of the outer and lining and then used a large zig zag stitch along the edge to hold them together. Then I aligned the waistband with the bodice main and lining, pinned, and stitched all 4 layers together with a large zig zag. Finally I surged over the zigzags and added clear elastic to the seam as I went, giving it a gentle stretch. I didn’t bother with the shoulder ties since I expect to wear this with with sweaters or jackets.

It’s a cute little top, but I don’t think it is quite as cute as the dress. Nonetheless, it will go with a number of pants and skirts in my wardrobe, and I expect I will get a lot of wear out of it. I’m modeling it here with DBP Sinclair Cleo palazzo pants I made last year. The look is definitely enhanced with the the right bra (on me that means wide straps, padded cups). I think the straps are set slightly too wide for me, and possibly a tad too long, and if I make this again I’ll try to adjust that.

I had some lavender PyLos Liknit in my stash so decided to make a Pattern Emporium Songbird Kimono jacket to match. I used the crop length with the narrow binding and extended the binding to the bottom (as I have done previously with this pattern). I used 1-inch fusible knit stay tape again to interface the binding. I used the tapered sleeve option and shortened it by 2.5 inches. This is a fantastic pattern with very clear instructions and lots of useful sewing tips. This time I got it right the first time.

Bloom woven top (but actually with a knit)

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I have made several pairs of pants and a cardigan from PyLos LiKnit fabric and I adore all of them. I made a Sinclair Bondi elbow sleeve top from black LiKnit which is ok, but the LiKnit doesn’t really have enough stretch for this pattern without some adjustments (more ease or maybe adding darts?). Since the LiKnit behaves almost like a woven, I decided to try making a woven top with seafoam LiKnit and I selected the recently-released Sinclair Bloom. I made the sleeveless version at the shortest length with the rounded back neck. I treated the LiKnit fabric exactly as if it were woven, using regular straight stitches for the seams and top stitching.

There is some complexity to this pattern, but as usual, the Sinclair pattern is fairly detailed and pretty easy to follow. The front and back yoke are lined (I used the same LiKnit fabric), and the front yoke is interfaced with fusible woven interfacing. I used a medium weight, which was probably a little heavier than needed–next time I’ll try a lighter weight interfacing. The front and back have some gathers, which I’m afraid I didn’t distribute evenly enough, but they’re mostly ok. The sleeveless version uses the “burrito” method to encase the neck and shoulders, which is a fun technique.

Despite being a knit, the LiKnit fabric worked pretty well with this pattern. I may try one in another color of LiKnit with sleeves. I would also like to try this pattern with cotton double gauze.

I’m overall pretty happy with how this top came out, and it looks great with my seafoam LiKinit Urban Boldly mashup pants! In fact I wore this outfit to a conference last week and got complements from complete strangers. Also it was very light weight and packable, and doesn’t need to be ironed.

Heartlight skirt

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The Pattern Emporium Heartlight Skirt pattern is a versatile pattern for very flattering flared A-line knit skirts of all lengths. It’s also super fast and easy, unless you’re me and you make it harder for yourself. I did two things that made constructing my skirt harder the first time (adding pockets and using a waistband fabric a lot firmer than the skirt fabric), but now that I know what I’m doing I can continue to add pockets and add firmer waistbands and it shouldn’t be too bad the second time around. And if you want to try either of these things, keep reading for some tips.

I was planning to use this bright floral DBP fabric for a dress, but liked how it went with my purple double-gauze pants, so made a Sinclair Bondi v-neck t-shirt instead. I also realized that the colors in the fabric coordinate with a number of other things I own (including my sneakers), so having separates in this fabric would be useful. I decided to make a skirt, and coincidentally Heartlight was the Friday discount pattern a couple of weeks ago, so I bought it and figured I would give it a try. I loved the shape of the skirts this pattern makes and the soft yoga waistband, but I was disappointed it didn’t come with pockets. I read on the PE Facebook page that people had added pockets, some using another PE pattern that I don’t own, and others improvised based on the pockets in PE pants patterns.

I cut the pattern out using my projector. I cut a size AU10 about 2 inches above the knee length (thinking that since this wasn’t a petite pattern, this is what I would need, but it actually ends up being more above the-knee than I was expecting). The skirt front and back plus the pocket pieces I cut used less than a yard of fabric. If you are taller or want a longer skirt it will obviously use more fabric, but the pattern has some tips about how to cut the skirt in pieces to use the fabric more efficiently and to allow this pattern to be used with narrower fabrics. Because DBP is very soft and stretchy, it does not have enough hold for a yoga waistband unless you add elastic or line it with another fabric. Especially since I was planning to add pockets, I knew I needed a different fabric for the waistband. I also realized that my floral fabric was very busy and might benefit from being broken up by a black waistband. I decided to use black 256 GSM athletic brushed poly for a nice firm yoga waistband.

I referred back to the PE Walk Boldly pants pattern jeans pocket instructions. As the shape of the hip on the pants does not match the skirt I could not use the pants pattern piece, but I improvised following the same concept. I made pocket rectangles about 6 inches wide and 8.5 inches deep, and then doubled them for the front and back of the pocket bag. I angled the rectangle to align with the skirt side seam and adjusted the top edge to align with the waist of the skirt. I opted for a straight slash pocket opening.

Once I figured out how to make the pockets work they were pretty easy to cut and sew. I stitched the top of the pocket to the skirt front, understitched and topstitched, then folded it in half, surged the bottom, and then basted the rest of the pocket top and side to the skirt front piece (ok I realize that really requires an entire tutorial and not just a diagram and single sentence unless you are already familiar with making these sorts of pockets). The pockets are big enough for my phone and are well anchored in the waistband.

My biggest problem came attaching the waistband, largely due to the difference in stretch and firmness of the two fabrics. I followed the pattern instructions and used the quarter method to distribute fabric and pinned in place with 8 pins. I knew that stretching the athletic knit waistband to fit the DBP skirt would be difficult, so I decided to machine baste it before sewing it together. It was a complete disaster, with parts bunched up too much and some parts not joined together at all because the waistband had curled under. I unpicked a few spots and tried to fix them, and grew increasingly frustrated as I went. I eventually declared it a mess and went out to dinner. After I came back I unpicked the entire waistband (easy because it was basting stitches) and started over. This time I started by basting the two edges of the yoga waistband together with a wide zigzag stitch over the edge. This ensured the two edges would stay together and prevented them from curling. Then I applied the quarter method again, but this time used a lot more pins. I machine basted the whole things and it looked much better. Finally, I surged the layers in place, stretching the waistband as I went. After that all that was left was to hem the bottom, which I did using hem tape and a zigzag stitch.

The end result is comfortable and looks good, and I even like it untucked too… actually I’m more likely to wear it that way. I like the fact that the skirt is a little big swishy, without having all the fabric of a full-circle skirt (I love those too, but not for every occasion) and that it doesn’t require any gathering to make it. I’m pretty happy with how the pockets came out, although with DBP you always have to be careful how you load pockets to keep them from stretching out awkwardly. The PE “foxy” pocket style would also probably work with this pattern. Although the firm athletic knit was a bit of a pain to deal with, it makes for a great waistband that feels like it will stay put as I wear it, even with loaded pockets. I might make a black skirt entirely out of this fabric. I would also like to try this pattern in a rayon ponte and also try a longer length.

Another Kai for my guy!

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For my husband’s birthday I made him a Sinclair Kai short-sleeved t-shirt in a soft yarn-dyed pine green two-tone striped cotton-Lycra fabric (looks like sage to me) from knitfabric.com. It’s an easy pattern to sew and it looks great! I previously made him two long-sleeve Kai shirts; this was my first short-sleeve Kai.

My husband loves cotton yarn-dyed knit stripes but they aren’t so easy to find in interesting colors (lots of blue and white or off-white stripes). I really like this green stripe and it goes well with all the sage and sea foam I’ve been sewing for myself and my youngest daughter.

Purple fluffy pants!

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I haven’t sewn many garments with woven fabric lately because I don’t like to iron my clothes after I wash them and I would also rather not deal with zippers. I also find knit clothes just tend to be more comfortable to wear. However, “fluffy” cotton double gauze is trendy right now, you don’t have to (and you really should not) iron it if you wear it crinkled, and when you use it for loose fitting summer clothes it is cool and comfortable and does not need a zipper. I bought three yards of purple fluffy from Mily Mae Fabrics and decided to make some woven palazzo pants.

I love the Pattern Emporium Walk Boldly and Urban knit pants patterns so selected their Vacation Vibes pattern for woven palazzo pants. The pattern has both a low-rise and high-rise option, as well as several pocket choices and options for subtle or dramatic flare legs. I love wearing high-rise pants so I went with the high rise waist, subtle flare leg, and foxy pockets. I cut a size AU10 short and made no pattern modifications whatsoever.

I washed and dried my fluffy fabric before use and did not iron it at all to keep it nice and fluffy. I projected the pattern onto the fluffy and cut it with a rotary cutter. It is a little tricky to sew because you want to avoid having it stretch out. I used a walking foot on my sewing machine with a slightly longer stitch length and surged all the seams after I sewed them to tidy up the edges. every time the pattern suggested pressing with an iron I ignored it, and just did some light finger pressing. I made a bias binding for the large foxy pockets (big enough for my phone without any modifications), but it requires several passes through the sewing machine to attach. By the time I got it attached it had stretched out a bit so I moistened the pocket openings with a damp cloth, reblocked them to their proper shape with my hands, and let them dry before I finished attaching the pockets. The pants were very easy to sew, and went together quickly. The waistband was super easy to assemble as there was nothing to stretch: I made a casing and threaded a piece of 2″ elastic through it. I’m 5’2″ and ended up hemming the short length 2.25 inches to wear with flats. The only time I touched my iron was to very lightly press the hems.

Here I am modeling the pants with my new Chorus top. I tucked it in so you could see the waist band but I will probably wear this shirt untucked. I like the subtle leg option, which is plenty wide on me. The dramatic leg could be fun with the right fabric, but may be more pants than I really need.

I thought the pants looked pretty good and were comfy to wear. But the rise was really sky high on me and the crotch was sitting pretty low. I am a big fan of high-rise pants, but as a short person, I sometimes find high-rise too high when there is no petite version. I also find I frequently have to size down and/or grade in the waist on PE patterns, despite choosing sizes that match my measurement. I decided to wear my pants to work all day and see how they did. They were comfortable and looked alright, and the double gauze was just right in both the 75-degree F outdoor weather and indoor air conditioning. but by the end of the day I was convinced that the waist was definitely too high for me. I also noticed that the pants slipped down a bit as I wore them and I kept stepping on the hem. The pockets were kind of droopy and I was concerned my phone could fall out when I sat down.

I cut off the waistband, removed about 2 inches from the top of the pants and graded in the sides from the hip up to the waist. I took about 3 inches out of the waistband circumference and sewed it back on. I think they fit much better now. They sit right at my natural waist rather than above it and there isn’t so much extra fabric around the waist. Next time I make these I think I would cut a size smaller (especially if I use double gauze since it stretches out a bit when you wear it), low rise, and still probably grade in the waist. I would also reshape the pocket opening to attach higher on the leg and hem them a bit higher. I might try a yoga waist band in a coordinating athletic knit (the pattern has instructions for that too!).

New photos show the reconfigured waistband. As an added bonus, since the pants are pulled up more the hems have risen and I no longer trip over them. I made a Sinclair Bondi v-neck tshirt (my first Bondi v-neck) out of a floral DBP in my stash to match the pants. I was going to make a dress from this fabric, but I liked how it paired with the pants so decided to make separates instead. I also like the shirt untucked. Skirt coming soon. I wore this outfit to work, and by the time I walked home it was 92 degrees F. The whole outfit was still comfortable, even in the heat and humidity!

A bunch of Bondis

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I love the Sinclair Bondi tshirt pattern, and have previously used it to make long-sleeve scoop neck and screwp neck versions, as well as bishop-sleeve versions, and even a wool sweater. I think I’ve made at least nine Bondi’s previously. It’s summer, so I’m mixing it up now with some short sleeve variations.

I ordered a few colors of cotton Lycra to have on hand, and my daughter spotted the sage fabric and requested a cropped short-sleeve tee. I made this one in a size 4R but graded the waist to a size 0 and cut the bottom at the horizontal waist line shown on the pattern. In hindsight I probably should have cut it a half-inch longer, so I ended up sewing about a 3/8-inch hem rather than my usual 5/8-inch t-shirt hem. Actually, she probably wouldn’t have cared if I hemmed it shorter, as it does seem to be what everyone her age is wearing. I used the crew neck and cut the sleeves about an inch shorter than the short-sleeve length marked on the pattern. It seems to be exactly what she wanted.

I didn’t have enough black Pylos Liknit fabric for another pair of palazzo pants (my daughter is wearing the last pair of black LiKnit pants I made in the photo above and would desperately like me to make her another pair when it restocks), but I had enough for a Bondi. I made this one with a screwp neck and elbow sleeves in a size 6P. The Liknit has only horizontal stretch so you can see some lines at the side of the bust, but it still fits pretty well and is very lightweight and comfortable to wear. It looks great with my black LiKnit pants and also these LiKnit pants in the linen colorway.

Finally, I used some light-weight, wide-rib poly-spandex in a groovy print that I bought on $3/yard clearance from Mily Mae Fabrics last year to make a short-sleeve screwp-neck Bondi in size 6p that pairs perfectly with my seafoam LiKnit pants.

So now I’m up to 12 Bondis and I’m sure there will be more! I still need to try the V-neck version… perhaps I will try that next.

Join the Chorus

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In the end, my Love Notions Chorus drape-neck blouse looks pretty nice, but I found it to be a rather frustrating pattern to sew, in part because the pattern doesn’t include very detailed instructions, and in part because it seems to be especially problematic for small sizes. The pattern has a variety of options, including shallow and deep drapes in the front and back or a plain back, plus it can be a top or a dress and have a variety of sleeves or not. I decided to make a plain back, deep drape front sleeveless blouse in size small out of a yard of slate blue ITY from my stash. I initially cut out the pattern as drafted, except I shortened the front by 2.5 inches and removed the side vents.

I had read the Love Notions Facebook group and had seen some complaints about the deep drape being too deep in small sizes and for short people (I’m 5’2″), so I cut the deep drape and basted it together just enough to be able to test it. Sure enough, the drape was too deep on me. If I positioned it just right it looked great, but if I moved the drape shifted and revealed my bra. I took a photo of the problem and posted it to the Facebook group, and within minutes I received suggestions for fixing the problem. Some suggested workarounds such as taping the drape to my bra or adding boning to keep the drape centered. However, there were also some marked up diagrams of how to adjust the pattern.

Inspired by those diagrams, I looked at the pattern again and realized that I could align the shallow and deep drape and see where they differed. I then drew a new cut line between the shallow and deep drape lines. While I was at it, I fixed another problem I had observed: the seam where the back facing and front drape line up at the shoulder didn’t quite match because the back facing edge was slightly longer. I thought it might be easier to get the shoulder and back facing to lie flat if everything lined up. So I adjusted my new cut line to be the right length to match the shoulder seam. You can see here the outline of the deep-drape front in blue, the shallow-drape front in green, and my new cut line in red.

I unpicked the shoulder seams, recut the top of the drape based on the new red line I drew on the pattern, and sewed it back together. This time the drape was just right. Although the pattern doesn’t call for it, I put a few stitches in the outer shoulder edges to hold the facing in place.

Next I started working on the arm hole binding. This is a point in the instructions were more details and a photo or two would be helpful. I wasn’t sure whether to sew the binding on with a stretch stitch, straight stitch, or surger. After consulting with the Facebook group, I used a stretch stitch to sew one of the bindings, but was not happy with it so I unpicked it and tried again. After much futzing I ended up flipping the binding to the inside instead of using the wrap around binding the pattern calls for. I did not execute it all that well on the first side, but it came out better on the second, but still more puckered than I would like. I suspect my binding might be a bit too short for the size of the arm holes.

Once the arm holes were bound I tried the blouse on and found that the back facing kept rolling up and sticking out the back of the neck, despite being understitched. I tried top stitching close to the edge, which helped some, but not enough. I added another row of top stitching 5/8-inch from the edge and pressed, the seam, which ended up being a lot better.

Finally, I hemmed the top and here it is! Overall I like it and if I make another one it should be a pretty quick project. I might try one with sleeves instead of arm bindings, or if I try another one with bindings I will probably try adding about half an inch to the length of the bindings so the bindings do not have to stretch as much. I might also try adding some shaping to the waist. I think a shorter facing, and possibly even a binding for the back neck would work better too. You can see in the back photo that the outline of the ITY facing.

Photos above with Pattern Emporium Urban Boldly mashup pants in seafoam LiKnit.

Ruffled Harper cardigan hack

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When I saw the Sinclair Harper cardigan hack on the SewYouThinkYouCanSew blog about a year ago I knew I wanted to give it a try. This hack is based on an Anthropologie Cardigan. I loved the look so much that I bought the same fabric, Impressionist Double Sweater Knit in eucalyptus from Serge Fabrics. Then I got busy with other projects, including a Sinclair Laura cardigan in the tea leaf color of the Impressionist Double Sweater Knit. When I bought Pylos LiKinit in seafoam and discovered it was exactly the same color as eucalyptus, I knew it was time to make a seafoam/eucalyptus outfit (see my post on my Pattern Emporium Urban Boldly mashup pants).

I followed the instructions for the Harper cardigan hack on the blog with a few modifications. I started with a size 6p. Since I prefer not to have neckbands that creep up my neck, I lowered the back neck band and narrowed the whole band, just as I had done for a previous Harper sweater I made. I used patch pockets (but without the top band) but still split the front pieces as was done in the hack. I also added a slight flare to the outside seam of the lower front pieces. I omitted the sleeve cuffs and lengthened the sleeves slightly to compensate. I was able to cut all the pieces from 1.5 yards of fabric in my size. I’m very happy with how the ruffled harper came out! It is a jacket I can wear to work and look professional, with a fun ruffle in back. This one is a light-weight sweater knit good for spring and fall or keeping warm in overly air-conditioned buildings. I might make a warmer one for winter in French terry or a cozy sweater knit.

Since I had fabric leftover I made a Sinclair Cache top to go with the cardigan. I followed the cache pattern but added a scoop neck and cut the back hem to match the front. I actually don’t love how the Cache came out in this fabric with the scoop neck as it doesn’t lie flat under the cardigan, but I’ll wear it anyway.

Totally Tartan! (Part 3)

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(See also Part 1 and Part 2.)

I still had some cotton lycra diagonal tartan Spoonflower fabric leftover from my tartan dress project, so I decided it was about time for my husband to get in on the tartan fun. I paired the tartan fabric with royal blue cotton lycra from knitfabric.com and made him a short-sleeved Sinclair Tao semi-fitted classic raglan tshirt. I also made myself a cap sleeve, scoop neck Sinclair Demi classic raglan knit top. Both came together very quickly and easily even though it was my first time using both patterns.

The Demi is semi-fitted, similar to the Sinclair Cachet relaxed top (which does not have separate sleeve pieces). It is not as fitted as the Sinclair Bondi. I really like the scoop neck option, which is not as low as the Bondi scoop neck — more like my invented Bondi screwp neck. The fit of the Tao is almost identical to the fit of the Sinclair Kai semi-fitted crew neck for men.

Totally Tartan! (Part 2)

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If you haven’t read Part 1, read that first, and when you’re done with this read Part 3.

Ready for a bigger challenge, I decided to make a pair of pocket leggings out of the tartan Spoonflower sport Lycra. I selected the Sinclair Flex No Front Seam Leggings pattern in size 4p. No front seams meant no worries about matching plaids in the front: all I needed to do was center the main front leg pattern piece on a vertical line in the plaid. Of course, then I had to align the waistband piece to the main front pattern piece and figure out how to cut the two back leg pieces symmetrically and somewhat aligned with the front leg piece. I decided to use the color blocking option and make the side pocket pieces in a solid black 300 gsm QUAD performance jersey knit from Surge Fabric Shop to avoid any plaid matching issues. The QUAD fabric is a similar weight and composition to the sport Lycra, but has more stretch and a brushed side that feels really nice. I wish it came in more prints because I really like this fabric. I ended up using up almost all my remaining QUAD fabric, which was too bad because I accidentally folded down and trimmed the wrong pocket pieces. Since I didn’t have enough black fabric to recut those pieces, I carefully unpicked them and then sewed a small patch on the corners I had trimmed off. It’s not very noticeable unless you know where to look (in the black section just below the waistband in the back).

The leggings were more challenging than most of my other recent projects, in part because of the slippery plaid fabric, but also because the waist construction involves joining many layers. As I rarely pass up a pocket opportunity, I included the back waistband pocket (highly recommended by the pattern designer). Adding the waistband pocket was fairly quick and easy, but it meant an extra two layers to join when I attached the waistband to the rest of the leggings. I did most of the sewing on my serger, but had so much trouble aligning the waistband that I basted it on my sewing machine. Even then, it still didn’t align and I had to unpick and ended up hand basting and then finally serging. The pattern also calls for optional top stitching. I top stitched some of the seams with a zigzag on my sewing machine, but wasn’t super happy with how it looked on the plaid so I didn’t top stitch all of it.

In the end, the leggings came together, the plaid is mostly (though not perfectly) aligned where it needs to be, and the leggings actually fit me. I chose the high-waist option and they stay in place pretty well, even though I did not include the optional drawstring (because I like my leggings to fit tight without a drawstring). I think on my next pair of Flex leggings I might add elastic in the waistband fold for a little extra hold. Overall, I think the leggings look good. However, one disappointment is that when the sport Lycra stretches, a lot of white shows through between the printing (“whiteout”). Since the legging pattern is designed to stretch the fabric, it means the fabric is not so bright, especially in the hip area. You can see it looks l a lot brighter near the ankles, where it is not as stretched. I think if I had a rotated the pattern 90 degrees on the fabric the whiteout might have been reduced.

I was going to make a tartan sports bra to go with the leggings, but then the new Sinclair Wave Athletic Knit Tank Top With Waistline Shaping and Pockets pattern came out and I decided to make that instead. I paired the tartan fabric with a black polyester/spandex stretch mesh from Knitfabric.com for the front and back side panels. (I still have enough tartan fabric left over for a sports bra and maybe also some color blocking on bike shorts.)

I debated whether to go for a 4p or 6p and in the end decided to sew the Wave in a 6p because I prefer my athletic tops to be loose. I think the 4p could have worked but would have been tight across the bust. Next time I might grade the sides in towards the bottom. I used the scoop neck option with bands, the cutout back, and hemmed bottom. The cutout back is a super cute feature that is easy to make. I ended up not doing any top stitching except on the hem and cutout.

Putting the wave pieces together is a little bit like assembling a puzzle, but it all worked out ok. My main frustration was with the Spoonflower sport Lycra fabric, which is slippery and doesn’t press easily. It made the bands and curved hem more painful to sew than they should have been. I did reasonably well with the plaid matching on this one, and even aligned the plaid on the top with the plaid on the leggings, although the top is darker because it doesn’t get stretched as much.

This is a top I will workout in, but it also looks great with jeans. I like the fact that there is enough shoulder coverage that this can be worn with a regular bra or a racerback, and it offers more sun protection on the back than a lot of sleeveless sports tops.

Because I don’t know when to stop and you can never have too much tartan, I made a headband to match and now I have a totally tartan athletic kit! I love the pockets in the leggings and the fact that the black panels on the top align with the black pocket panels on the leggings. I wore the leggings a few weeks ago in the Carnegie Mellon “Random Distance Run” and will certainly wear the entire outfit for future CMU races.

Songbird Kimono Jacket

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I love my lightweight Pylos LiKnit palazzo pants and wanted a jacket to go with them. I was looking for something unstructured and drapey that I could throw on over a tshirt or a dressier shirt in warm weather. The Pattern Emporium Songbird kimono jacket/duster/cardi seemed about right. I decided to give it a try in the cropped length with the narrow binding option. I made it in AU size 10 with the semiflared sleeves, shorted 1 inch. I made it in a 2-way stretch fabric, but it is also suitable for wovens.

It was pretty quick to cut and sew from the black LiKnit. (I took a couple of days off this week to sew after having spent last weekend on campus at graduation.) I used 1″ fusible knit stay tape for the interfacing on the binding, which is not exactly what the pattern called for, but it seemed to work pretty well. I cut the bottom of the binding at an angle, but messed up and cut one side at the wrong angle. I fixed it and then forgot to adjust the length of the other side to match and didn’t notice until the whole jacket was put together and I discovered that the binding was lower on one side than the other. I pondered how to fix it, and then decided I didn’t really like the binding ending a few inches below the hem anyway. I considered attempting to unpick the whole binding, which didn’t seem like much fun. I also considered just cutting off the binding and redoing the whole thing, which probably would have worked ok but I was too lazy to do it. In the end I decided to splice additional binding pieces to the bottom of both sides and bring the binding down to the hem line. This is not really the right solution, but since the whole thing is black, unless you look at the jacket in bright light, the two diagonal splices are not very visible. Other than the splices, I really like this look and when I make another Songbird jacket I will almost certainly plan to extend the binding on purpose this time. Here’s a closeup in the bright sun so you can see what I did.

Even though I shortened the sleeves by 1 inch, I still felt they were too long for me (a problem I often have for garments that don’t come in petite sizes). The sleeve hem is 1.5 inches so I folded it over a second time and effectively shortened the sleeves by 2.5 inches, which was perfect for me. The pattern comes in a choice of semiflared, flared, or tapered sleeves and multiple sleeve lengths. I was looking for something to cover my arms so I chose long sleeves. I wanted something loose but I didn’t want flared sleeves that would get get in the way, so semiflared was the right balance.

I’m modeling the jacket here with a Sinclair Yasmin dress, but trust me it also looks great with the palazzo pants. Also note my little tricolor beech tree in the background, which struggled last year but is hopefully making a comeback.