A Basic Top Gets Kicked Up a Notch!

A few weeks ago I tested another pattern for Itch to Stitch Designs* and like all the other patterns I've been lucky enough to test this year, the Busan top is a total winner for me!  I haven't been interested in anything with any sort of statement sleeve until this pattern came along and then I was completely obsessed with the idea of them.

As with all of the Itch to Stitch patterns it is sized from 00-20.  The pattern goes together easily and other than the few pleats at the sleeve cap, this is absolutely no more difficult than sewing a regular long sleeve t-shirt with a cuff.  Add a few minutes (maybe ten or 15 minutes more) onto to your normal sewing time for a basic tee and you've got a garment that takes the t-shirt shape and kicks it up a notch or two!

You can make it out of so many  fabric too - sweater knits, sweatshirt knits, french terry, jersey... the list goes on and on.  As long as your fabric has the recommended stretch, you're pretty much good to go.

I made my first and second one out of sweater knit.  I followed the pattern as drafted (with the usual extra length I always add) and it was perfect.  I love wearing it with jeans and boots, but I think it could be just as great with a skirt or dress pants - it's got that "just toss it on and go, but feel dressed and well put together" thing going on even though it's so easy to sew up.

As I mentioned the sleeves get their "oomph" from four pleats - two on either side of the center of the sleeve cap and then they cinch in by sewing the wide bottom of the sleeve piece into the narrow long cuffs.  I have a quick tip here for the cuffs - it'll make it a whole lot less cuss word inducing if you baste the two layers of cuff together first, especially if you're using a knit that persists on curling the minute it is stretched.  (Do the same for the neck band and you'll probably not need your stitch ripper as much as I did... unfortunately both my sweater knits were super light weight and super curly along the cut edges so until it dawned on me to baste layers my seam ripper and I were enjoying quite a bit of one on one time together and the air was getting a bit blue with all the bad language being used.)

But check out that sleeve cap...  I love those pleats so much!!

A few of the testers opted to use festive fabrics for theirs and of course I had fancy fabric envy so had to make a sparkly one for myself too.  Can I tell you what is impossible to photograph in the winter?  Sparkly silver fabric - no matter what light I take the photos in it comes across as plain old grey.  It also turns out too that my thin lightweight sparkly silver jersey is see through.  Oooops!  Cartagena to the rescue!! I'm planning to make a light grey one specifically for under this Busan, but for now the black will have to do.

These tops are perfect for lunch out with the girls, or getting your festive, but super comfy vibe on for the holidays.  I've been dreaming of a stretch velvet one with lace cuffs.  Why yes, I'm totally ripping off a hack one of the testers did on her Busan...  Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right?  I'm not just being a complete copy cat.  (Ok.  I am, but whatever.  LOL)

So, if you want to give it a try for yourself, head on over to the Itch to Stitch website and grab yourself a copy of Busan while it's on sale for the release week!  Give yourself an hour or two off from whatever holiday prep you're madly working on and treat yourself to a new top that will make you feel like a million bucks!

If I don't pop in before Christmas, I'll be back shortly after!  (I've been meaning to write a post for a few weeks but it just didn't happen because life got in the way as it sometimes will) I hope that whatever festivities you partake in during this time find you in good health and good spirits!  For us we're very much looking forward to celebrating Christmas - although this year will not be quite the same as all my "big kids" are going on a trip south for the entire holiday break and because they leave bright and earlier Christmas morning, they won't be tiptoe-ing, bleary-eyed, but giggling into the house at the crack of dawn.  I'm really going to miss having all ten of us under the same roof for the morning!  It'll be such a quiet affair with just the four of us instead - but hopefully just as Merry!

Now, you'll have to excuse me while I get back to the approximately eleventy billion things I meant to get done before the weekend but clearly didn't...

There's a Certain Greatness to My Lateness...

This afternoon as I sat here in a sweatshirt and jeans and contemplated how many layers of warmth I should plan to take to watch the boys football practice tonight, I started writing a blog post about sleeveless dresses and tops. The season is fast wearing down, but better late than never and all that.  I had planned to write this post weeks ago.  I even took the photos weeks ago.  And then life happened.  And then distractions happened.  And then other blog posts happened... However, maybe there'll still be some warmer days, or maybe you're in the southern hemisphere and you're heading into summer soon.  Or maybe you can just tuck this away in your mental filing cabinet for next year.  Whatever the case, I wanted to highlight two free patterns that have been in constant rotation in my wardrobe this summer.

The first is the Agnes dress from Halla Patterns.  It's a paid for pattern unless you're in their Facebook group - go join the group, check out the announcements and get a coupon code to get it for free.  You won't regret either of those instructions I'm giving you.  The Facebook group is warm and welcoming and you'll get lots of inspiration from the sharing going on in there.  As for Agnes, when I downloaded it last summer, it was simply a top or dress.  Now, it's been updated to include sleeve options as well as more length options.  Last summer I made the top version, because I was convinced I wouldn't like the dress.  (what was I thinking????)  I made it from a one metre remnant of Liverpool that I found at the local fabric shop for a couple of dollars.  I wasn't willing to spend a lot on it, because I wasn't sure I'd even like the top - I normally shy away from swing tops and dresses - but I sewed it up figuring I had nothing to lose.  I then wore it all the time for the rest of the summer.  I wore it so often with my jeans to work I'm sure people were starting to wonder if I didn't own any other tops.  Here's that first version last summer.

Because I loved last summer's top version, I decided to throw caution to the wind and make a dress version at the beginning of the summer.  It's such a ridiculously quick sew and turns out I loved the dress version as much as the top version.  For my dress I used a Double Brushed Poly from Sew Sew English that I'd bought last summer and had been hoarding.

I decided I absolutely needed to make a second dress because like last year's top, I was starting to wear my dress every second day.  I ordered more DBP, this time from Elevated Fashion Fabrics and as soon as it came in I sewed it up too and have worn it approximately eleventy billion times since.

These dresses are perfect for throwing on and feeling comfy for kicking about home in, but dressed nicely enough to go out in.  I have all the love for these dresses.  I'm now on the lookout for the perfect fabric for a sleeved version for fall to wear with tights and boots!

I also have another metre of Liverpool I ordered in the spring to make another top version, but have kind of run out of time and hot weather so I'll probably plan that for next summer instead.

The next pattern I want to tell you about is Itch to Stitch's Lago Tank.  It's one of her free patterns that is available on her site all the time and although it's a freebie, like all ITS patterns you are guaranteed to have the same great standard of pattern drafting that you've come to expect from designer, Kennis Wong.  I made two tanks in quick succession and only thing stopping me from making more was time.  I can't tell you how many times I've washed and worn these two tanks since making them!  The only change I made to the pattern was to add my usual length in the body.   You can squeeze this pattern out of such a little amount of fabric that it's fantastic stash buster.  I keep thinking it would be a fun one to use my Silhouette Cameo and cut out some vinyl for on the front too.  Hmmmm.  Future project idea...

The first one was made using a jersey of unknown content, left over from the fabric I made my green Molly top in during the winter.  It definitely has a touch of drape to it more than a regular cotton lycra, but I have no clue what it is.   Maybe it's just a poly knit because I can wash and dry it without any signs of shrinkage.  (and if there's one thing I excel at, it's shrinking all cotton).  Whatever it is, it's soft, washes and dries like a dream and feels cool and comfy.

The second one I made is DBP that I had in my stash from the same Sew Sew English order as the feathers print I used for the Agnes.  I loved this print so much and was going to make a Patterns for Pirates Sunshine dress.  I had planned to do a sleeve hack and got everything cut out and sewn up.  I don't know what happened along the way, but disaster ensued.  Ok.  I know full well what happened with the sleeves.  Like a complete dolt, I had forgotten to change the armscye to accommodate sleeves and couldn't move my arms. Rookie mistake there.  I know better!  So no worries, I'd make it sleeveless like the pattern... except things went south from there.  My bodice was way larger on one side than the other throughout the shoulder.    My bodice was also hella crooked in length.  As in a good 1 1/2" out from one side to the other.  AGGGHHHHHH.  I called it quits at that point.  I mean really.  There's a line that has to be drawn in the sand as to what you can selvedge and what you can't and this was it.  But I was so sad about the fabric.  I was able to cut on the cross grain (thank you gods of four way stretch!) and rescue just enough fabric from the skirt.  So while the fabric wasn't destined to become the dress I dreamed I'd wear all fall long, it did become my very favourite tank top of the summer and I'm ok with that!

I'm thinking I might still make a few more Lago Tanks if I have the chance even though summer is fast coming to an end.  I think they'd make the perfect layering piece for fall.

So there you go.  Two awesome patterns to fill your warm weather wardrobe with! Now I'm off to go have a cup of tea and find my fuzzy slippers because damn it's chilly tonight!

The Jessi Hoodie

Ages ago - I feel like maybe as far back as late fall - one of the sewing groups I belong to on Facebook was hosting a sew along for the Jessi Hoodie by CoEmi.  I snapped up the pattern, bought the paper needed to print it off (It's a European pattern so required A4 - I made do with 8 1/2 x 14 " to accommodate the extra length needed and it worked just fine), printed and then assembled it all in short order.  Then proceeded to have zero time to sit down and trace the pattern out, add seam allowances and cut fabric out, let alone sew it up.  So it sat in a big pile on top of my desk until the beginning of March.

I've seen this pattern everywhere on Facebook for months now. It seems like ALL the custom fabric group sewists are especially crazy about it.  I really liked the look of it and thought it would be perfect for work, so I finally dragged my roll of tracing paper out and set to the business of tracing and adding seam allowances to all the bits and bobs.  It really wasn't an onerous task and now that it's done and I'm so happy with how it turned out I wonder why on earth I waited so long, other than time was, as always, at a premium.

I decided that my peached herringbone jersey from Blended Thread Fabrics would be great for the main fabric and instead of buying a co-ordinate for the rest, I decided to make do by utilizing as much of the charcoal Fabric Snob jersey from my ill fated New Horizons Vermont cardi that I'd made earlier in the year. (You never saw that one.  It was a complete fit disaster on me.  I don't know why I strayed from my beloved Blackwood Cardi in the first place).  So the cowl contrast was cut from the back of the cardi, the front side panels from the cardi fronts.  I cut the cuffs off and used them as is, and did the same with the cardi bottom band, so cuffs and band weren't exactly as the pattern measures, but did the trick nicely. I was pleased that the only "waste" left over from the cardi was the front bands which were so bizarrely stretched out of shape they were garbage anyway, and the sleeves, which I'll save for contrast on something for the little boys.

I have really loved wearing this top and reach for it so very often on cooler days, so I thought I'd make another version.  This time I used a panel from the custom print company, Midnight Mountain Fabrics which is located in the city. Being from the flat as flat can be prairies, I've always been drawn to the mountains. Some might even call it obsessed with them. I love their majesty, ruggedness and beauty, so I couldn't resist the panel when the pre-order went up a few months ago.  I combined it again with a jersey solid from The Fabric Snob.  This time since I was starting out from scratch I used the pattern pieces for the cuffs and measurements for the bottom band.  I like the bottom band's width, but the cuffs feel just a bit too long and too snug for my liking.  I'd probably like just an extra quarter of an inch width and a 1/4 of an inch shorter for my personal preference.  I'm not sure if it's the difference in fabric, or if I totally used the wrong seam allowance (How on earth do you do that when you're the one that added the seam allowance in the first place...The mind.  It boggles sometimes! LOL), but this one turned out really relaxed and verging on baggy.  I've taken it in some on the side seams and will wait until it's gone through the wash a couple of times in case it shrinks then I may leave it in it's still "relaxed fit" state, or may take it in more - I just feel that the minute I take it in, is the minute that it's going to shrink like a beast in the wash and I'm going to be living in a world of so much regret.  So for the time being it stays as is.

I used the "BIG Jessi" pattern. (Wow!  Not sure how I feel about the naming of the pattern - thanks for pointing out the obvious there CoEmi, because we larger ladies might not realize we're bigger than your regular pattern size range already.  But whatever.  Slight annoyance aside, I wasn't going to let myself be put off by that.  Maybe it's a translation thing.  I don't know.) As for the nitty gritty pattern details, the fit is pretty good (if you follow your seam allowance choice you made...), and it's a nice flattering design.  It has one heck of a huge cowl - if you feel the need to hide your head in a shell like a turtle, this is your pattern. LOL!

Or if you'd rather, there's a nice big hood option as well. You also have options to put in pockets (I didn't bother) and if you're a nursing mama, the pattern tells you how to add hidden zippers along the princess seam lines to make it breastfeeding friendly. Certainly not a feature I'd need anymore, but might be quite handy for others.  I like that you can mix and match fabrics and that it's a perfect way to use those fun custom print panels that are all over the internet that I seem to be acquiring but haven't previously had a hot clue what to do with.

I'm am pretty much delighted with both my versions and am currently pondering if I should make a third version, but this time with french terry and just a regular jewel neckline instead of hood or cowl.  Although, the weather has been glorious, so maybe I should just turn my thoughts to spring sewing instead... we shall see!