I didn’t manage to get a lot of sewing done this summer, but I did make a few things! One was the Peplum Top from Peppermint Magazine/In the Folds.
I’ve made this one before, back in 2018 when I made two versions. It’s such a fun shirt and a nice pattern that I wanted to revisit it and see if I could squeeze it out of some Robert Kaufman Limerick Linen scraps I had saved from the time I made my friend a jacket using Simplicity 8172. Oh, this linen! It’s so beautiful and so floaty. I love it.
Before starting, I looked back at my old post to see what changes I had made to the pattern. I used those again: a minor forward shoulder adjustment, and lengthening the top by two inches, although this time I added one of the inches to the bodice and one inch to the peplum. I made size G, and found a surprising error on the pattern. Even though the key to the sizes shows different line styles for sizes G and F, on the printed and assembled PDF, they both look the same. I just had to count up or down to my size to make sure I was on track. It’s very possible this problem has been fixed since I downloaded it, but keep an eye out just in case if your are sewing either of those two sizes.
This fabric is a little shifty to cut, so you need to be careful and go a little bit slowly. This can be an issue while sewing, too, so make sure you stay stitch the front and back neckline before getting started. It’s not a hard fabric to sew–just be aware that it can shift. Handle it carefully, and you’ll be fine.
I tested out various trim options, but in the end, I decided to keep the outside of the top plain to let the linen shine through, although I did use some fun Rifle Paper Co. rayon bias binding I made instead of the facings. After doing the forward shoulder adjustment, I didn’t really want to alter the facings when I had this pretty option I could use instead. I used my serger to finish my other seams, so the inside looks nice and neat.
Peplum Top front–you can see peeks of the bias binding; the quilt in the background was made by my Mom!
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Peplum Top, back
When I finish a garment, unless I really hate it, I usually feel like it’s THE BEST THING EVER and MY NEW FAVORITE and so on and so forth. I loved this when I first made it–and I still do, but wearing it a few times has helped me to see not only its best qualities, but also some that I like less. The pros are that this is a great pattern in beautiful fabric, and it feels like an absolute dream to wear in the summer. It’s cool and breezy and SO GOOD. Another thing that I love is that because it is dartless, it’s also reversible. I love it both ways. Each one is a little different. The parts I like a little less are that at this size, the armholes are a little low, and show my bra. The beautiful volume that allows this to feel so light and breezy also can have a bit of a pregnancy look, especially from the side. That would be different in a drapier fabric like a silk crepe de chine or a rayon challis, but in a fabric with any amount of body, you need to be prepared for volume. In general, I like the volume, but not always.
All that being said, I really do love this top. I think it will look great as the season turns, on those days when it’s cool enough for jeans and a jacket, but still warm enough for a sleeveless or short-sleeved shirt. I had to do a lot of piecing on the peplum to get it out of the small amount of fabric I had, but I made it with only two scraps left over. Man, I love linen!
Last, but not least, guess what? Today is the nine year anniversary of this blog! Wow! It’s great to be able to look back and see how much I have grown as a sewist and craftsman, how much my focus has both narrowed to sewing, and then expanded to making garments in general with the reintroduction of knitting to my crafting skillset. Will shoes be next? Will I ever make a straw hat? Who knows?! Thanks for reading along, though. I really appreciate it. 🙂
We pick sewing projects for different reasons–something you need in your wardrobe, putting your own spin on a designer garment you could never afford, using a favorite fabric, the desire to try an intriguing pattern. The Elizabeth Suzann Studio Clyde Work Pant was my intriguing pattern. I had heard of Elizabeth Suzann, a slow-fashion designer, because of Lauren Taylor (known as Lladybird in the sewing community), who had previously worked for her. Many in the sewing community and beyond loved this brand, and there was a lot of buzz when Elizabeth Suzann decided to close her business, but made some of her garments available as sewing patterns for free. Eventually, she wrote directions for the patterns and re-released them with a pay-what-you-can model on her website.
I kept seeing her Clyde Work Pant pattern and was curious about what it would be like to make and how I would like the huge, curving pockets on the sides. They were so different from anything else in my wardrobe, and I never would have been able to afford a pair or have a chance to try them on when they were only available as ready-to-wear. So, having no money for patterns at the time, I took her up on the pay-what-you-can offer, and grabbed a free copy of the pattern.
At the time I wanted to make these, it was August. (I made them before the gingham top I shared a few weeks back.) My husband had given me a gift of enough rust orange linen to make these pants, so I printed the pattern and cut them out. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to make my size or go up a size to make absolutely sure the waist would pull over my hips. In the end, I made a size 16 in the “regular” height, which is where my measurements put me, although I could have gone either way on the height, since I’m about 5′ 8.5″. I also wondered if the ankles would fit over my heels, but I decided to just jump in and see what happened.
The instructions were nice and clear with good illustrations. There was no specific recommendation for how to finish your seams, although if you looked closely at a few of the illustrations, it seemed like the edges were serged. Since I love the look of beautifully finished insides, especially in linen, I chose to use a combination of French and flat-felled seams. While this really did create beautiful insides with not a raw edge in sight, it turned out to be a poor choice for the fabric I was using.
The pants, inside out
I wouldn’t call my linen a loose weave, really, but after wearing these for just a short time, the stitching holes started to open up a little bit and raw edges began to pop out at stress points. This wasn’t because I didn’t do a good job of finishing–it was just that in this fabric with this pattern, the better choice would have been to serge without trimming or zigzag my seam allowances together, press them to the sides in most cases, and topstitch. That would have left my seam allowances intact or at least not super narrow and provided less of a chance for ends and edges to pop out.
Ugh. Edges popped out after only a few wears.
I thought that I would have to start patching my new pants almost immediately, but it seems that just a wide satin stitch has, so far, taken care of the problem, while blending in pretty well. I have the most issues at stress points like the bottom corners of the pockets on the front, the tops of the front seams on the legs, and the right back calf.
The pants were a pretty quick sewing project, and were not too hard to make, which was great. The only part that was a little tricky/fiddly was the waistband. I really like the idea of how the elastic is inserted, but it can be a little tough to do it well. My advice is to go slowly. I also added a few more pins than recommended, in order to keep everything where I wanted it.
Also, the pockets really are huge. I could fit a book in there! They’re so fun.
As for fit, these pants are really interesting. They are definitely comfortable, and I have no trouble getting my waistband over my hips. The rise is really high, which I am guessing might be a way of ensuring that these pants fit many body shapes well, and also makes it possible to wear them at your natural waist or below, as you prefer.
Thankfully, I had no trouble getting the foot holes over my heels, though it’s a close fit.
Standing, these are very comfortable.
Sitting and crouching, I notice that they get more snug around the stress points I mentioned. I suppose that next time I could either size up, or adjust the lower legs to be slightly larger, or try the tall length. I still find them very comfortable, and wonder how they would be in a bottomweight cotton twill or something a bit more durable than the linen I chose.
As for the fabric…I know it didn’t work out perfectly, but…I just love it. It’s a100% midweight linen originally from Fabric Mart. I love the color so much, and it’s not usually a color I go for. It has been great pairing it with a pink linen shirt in summer and now my purple Wool & Honey sweater (pattern by Drea Renee Knits) in fall. It’s so soft and comfortable too. Is it a doomed love? Maybe. I hope these pants last, and I’m not happy that I may have to keep repairing them, but I love this fabric. These pants are agreat transitional garment between seasons.
This was a really fun pattern with wonderful instructions, and even though I made some choices that gave me a few issues, those weren’t the fault of the pattern, which is excellent. In fact, I would love to make them again, despite my poor track record for repeating patterns.
Hi, everyone! I hope this finds you well. As you may have noticed, posting to the blog gets a bit patchy in the summer, so after taking July off, I’ll probably post a bit in August, although not as regularly as usual. It matches my sewing though. Even though I LOVE summer sewing, I also love being outside with my family and cooking and baking with summer produce, so the summer sewing never ends up being quite as plentiful as I imagine it will be.
Last summer, my youngest daughter and I spent a lot of time exploring the area around where we live. Sometimes we were in the woods, sometimes we were at the beach or by a river where we might want to swim. I hoped that by making us some shorts in woven Supplex, a texturized nylon fabric that feels a lot like cotton, but is wicking and breathable (etc., etc.), we would have bottoms we could wear on our adventures this summer that could get wet and then dry quickly. It was all about versatility! The shorts from the Vero Beach Set by Hey June Handmade seemed perfect for this.
During the winter, I ordered several cuts of woven Supplex from The Rainshed with the intention of making our adventure shorts, as well as a few other things I had in mind.
Newly washed and dried woven Supplex and Taslan (the generic name for Supplex) ready and waiting to be sewn up!
(You can see the “sweatshirt” I made with the yellow Taslan/Supplex as part of my Spring Outfit here.) Normally when I batch sew, it is groups of different patterns, but this time, I made three of these pairs of shorts at once–two for me, and one for my daughter.
For my shorts, I sized up one size from where my measurements put me. The instructions suggest doing this if you have a fabric with no give to it, and that definitely applies to this Supplex. I also like a good bit of ease, and sizing up made these fit just right. For my daughter, I chose a size based on her waist and hoped the shorts would fit, as she isn’t quite in adult sizes yet. We used the line drawing as a coloring page, since we had gotten two colors for her shorts, and she colored in everything the way she wanted it as a guide for me.
One thing to note, that I didn’t initially realize, is that the binding for the shorts is not visible on the outside if you follow the pattern directions. Of course you could reverse the directions around Step 19 if you want it to show.
After cutting out her shorts and mine, I realized that I still had enough fabric left from hers to cut out another pair, and since I liked her colors, and she didn’t mind, I cut out some shorts with her fabric, but with the colors in the opposite positions for me.
Front of the Vero Beach Shorts. Mine are top left and bottom. Top right are for my daughter.
Back of the Vero Beach shorts.
When it came time to sew, I started with a Microtex 90/14 needle, but that made my machine sound like it was punching through the fabric, so I switched to a Microtex 70/10 needle, and that was better. I also found that my thinner silk pins were easier to use than the pins I normally use (which are actually quilting pins). I threaded my serger for finishing seam allowances since this fabric doesn’t press well, and frays a fair amount, and was careful to choose thread colors for both my sewing machine and serger that would look good on all three pairs of shorts so I wouldn’t have to switch (plus I love a good contrast thread color). As far as elastic, I bought what Joann’s had in the appropriate width, which turned out to be Underwear and Pajama Elastic.
Inside front of Vero Beach shorts
Inside back of Vero Beach shorts
A slightly higher machine tension (five on my machine, rather than the normal four) gave me more balanced stitches. I rarely change my tension, but it did help on this project. I ran into a little bit of trouble part way through with skipped stitches. Everything had been going fine, and then I started to have problems. After trying a bunch of things, I didn’t know what else to do, so I called the sewing help hotline (i.e. my Mom) and she suggested cleaning my machine and then changing thread brands. So, I cleaned everything out and switched from Coats & Clark to Gütermann, and it worked! I hadn’t thought of that, but after she said it, I remembered that my machine has the same issue, but in the opposite direction with topstitching thread–Coats & Clark works, but Gütermann doesn’t. Funny, huh?
An up-close look at some of the topstitching and fun details on these shorts
I used leftover yellow Taslan from the windbreaker/sweatshirt in my Spring Outfit to add fun pops of color to my magenta shorts.
When it came to interfacing, I attached self fabric with a washable glue stick, since I didn’t want to try fusing interfacing to this fabric. Ironing nylon fabric like this sounds like a recipe for melted fabric!
I also serged the top edge of the back pockets since my serger is set at a 1/4″ wide stitch width (Have I ever actually changed that? No! Haha). At the time, I wondered if I should have serged other areas in the pockets to eliminate fraying, but after having worn the shorts a lot, it hasn’t been an issue, so I guess whatever I did was fine.
I double stitched around the edges of my back pockets to cut down on fraying and add strength.
Here are a few tips for this pattern: make sure when you trim your seam allowances in step 20, that you use a washable marker or chalk to mark the notches on the curved sides/bottoms of your shorts in a way you can still see after trimming–you will need those marks to help you line up the sides.
I also recommend marking the drawstring holes even if you aren’t inserting a drawstring, just so you know where the front of the waistband is for when you are attaching it to the shorts. I had planned to insert drawstrings in mine, but changed my mind. I was still glad I had those markings, though.
So…how did they turn out? Well, I wish I had about five more pairs, so they are great! And my daughter’s fit well, too. I wasn’t sure how hers would fit since they are a women’s size, but she loves them and they fit great! We have worn them to the beach, wild blueberry picking, for exercise, and as every day wear. I usually wear them as soon as they are out of the wash. I love them. I was afraid the pink and orange ones would be a bit see-through (something I began to worry about after I had cut them out since they seemed fine before that), but unless you are wearing really dark or patterned bottoms underneath it’s not an issue, and if it’s a swimsuit, well, who cares? The magenta ones are completely opaque.
I didn’t take pictures of my daughter since I don’t share pictures of my kids on my blog, but here are some she took of me when we went wild blueberry picking. Try not to be jealous of my outfit–fashion + protection against ticks and mud! What more could you want?! Hahaha
I feel so New England-y! L.L. Bean boots and hat, Celtics t-shirt, anti-tick knee socks, and picking wild blueberries!
These shorts were just right–I never got too hot in them and the big pockets were awesome.
Here’s a picture of some of the wild blueberries–they’re teeny tiny, about the size of a pencil eraser–but delicious! I’ll never reveal our not-very-secret secret spot on the internet, but if you know me in person, feel free to ask. 😉
These shorts are so versatile and comfortable, I would love to sew them up in a bunch of different fabrics–everything from linen to lightweight denim and maybe even athletic knit (worth a try!). They would also make great pajama shorts. The instructions were excellent and the pockets are so nice and large. I really, really recommend these. Knowing my love for nearly always trying new patterns, I can’t say for sure that I will circle back to these, but I hope I do, because they are great.
Picture-taking motivation has been pretty low this summer, so I ran outside when I was already wearing these one day, and had my daughter snap a few pictures of them.
The pullover that’s included in this pattern looks nice, too, so we’ll see if I try that someday. Wouldn’t it be great in double gauze? The more I sew with patterns from Hey June Handmade, the more I love them. The instructions are so good, many of the styles are a great match for me, and I am coming to really trust Adrianna’s expertise and advice in each pattern. She knows what she is talking about!
I’m also really glad that I have tried out woven Supplex. Sometimes I want to sew a garment because the pattern is intriguing and new, and sometimes it’s the fabric I find tempting. I still have some uncut blue-gray yardage that I hope to make into the Itch to Stitch Sequoia Cargos so I will have some woven hiking pants, but we’ll see what happens. Technical fabrics are so interesting, and being able to make your own outdoor gear feels like such a win!
And what’s up next in the queue? I’m working on a rash guard and bathing suit now and am hoping to make the Fibre Mood Lola Top and Elizabeth Suzann Clyde Work Pant pattern in linen after that, but we’ll see! I’ll keep you posted although it may be a bit patchy through the end of summer. 🙂
Summer sewing is in full (albeit slow) swing, and these pants are one of the most recent projects I finished. I really like the look of sailor pants. I actually have a pair of wool 13-button sailor pants that I love from an Army Navy store, but sadly they don’t fit right now. I have noticed that I’m drawn to that style, though, so I decided to make some of my own. First, I tried the Persephone Shorts by Anna Allen. The pattern and instructions are excellent, but I really, really didn’t like the look of the shorts on me, even though I think they look great on other people. Rather than fiddling with the fit to try to get something I might like, I moved on to Simplicity 8391. The Persephone Pants are actually based on sailor pants from the 1920’s-1940’s, whereas Simplicity 8391 is more of a cute take on the idea of sailor pants. I have to say, though, that I really, really like these.
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First I made the shorts version (View D) to get an idea of the fit. I made them up quickly without worrying much about interior perfection or getting things just right. These were my wearable muslin.
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Cute, right?
My measurements put me in between two sizes, so I traced that out and sewed them up in some leftover Tinted Denim by Cloud9 Fabrics that I got long ago at Pintuck & Purl.
I am finding that in most, if not all, Big 4 pants, I need to do a full seat adjustment and possibly even lengthen the back crotch point. I didn’t do any of that for the shorts, and while they came out cute, they aren’t super comfortable on me, and I have already given them away.
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Aside from giving me wedgies, sitting was really uncomfortable and I wanted a lot more ease, so I decided to try again and just sort of guess at the amount of adjustment to make and hope for the best.
For version two, I made the pants (View C) from Delaware Grass Green 10 oz. cotton canvas from Big Duck Canvas that I had originally bought to make into Persephone Pants. This was my first time ordering from Big Duck Canvas. The price was good and so was the quality of the fabric. Interestingly, when I washed these, they faded a fair amount. They also softened a lot as I’m sure they had some sizing on them while on the bolt. They remind me of one of my favorite pairs of pants from years ago, so I loved how the fabric came out of the wash, but keep the fading in mind if you give this fabric a try at some point. I have also noticed this sort of fading when I bought duck canvas from Joann’s, so maybe it’s just something that happens with this fabric?
As far as adjustments, I really wanted some comfy pants, so I decided to go big or go home with the fitting. I retraced the pattern half a size larger, and then did a 1.5″ full seat adjustment, as well as adding 1.5″ of length to the back crotch point. I used The Perfect Fit from the Singer Sewing Reference Library series to figure out how to do this. I’m always a little confused about which adjustments to do and how in the world to know what I need in each case. It helps that I sew a lot of Big 4 patterns and can use a lot of similar adjustments on those, but what about when I sew a pattern from another company? Isn’t there some way to measure the flat pattern and know if I will need to adjust things? I still need to finish reading Pants Fitting: The Crotch and Pants Fitting: The Crotch Part 2 from the Winmichele blog and do the exercises she mentions because I think that will answer those questions for me. I understand how to measure the back of a shirt pattern to see if I need a broad back adjustment, but I still don’t fully have pants figured out, even after making a number of different types.
Back to these pants. When hemming, I took 2″ off the length of the pants. I think if I had left the size the same as the shorts, the pants would have fit closer and been higher on my waist, and then maybe that 2″ would have been too much, but with the adjustments I made, they sit just below my navel and taking 2″ off looked better to me than just hemming them at the normal hem allowance (for reference, I’m 5′ 8.5″ tall and I don’t usually make length adjustments). I had to stretch the fabric as I hemmed so that everything was nice and flat.
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I got to use a few vintage buttons on both the pants and the shorts.
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I used whatever invisible zippers I had around. The zipper on these is on the left side.
One other thing I changed was on the inside of the waistband. I covered the inside edge of the waistband with bias tape, which made catching the waistband SO MUCH EASIER when stitching in the ditch from the outside. I do have to be careful when zipping and unzipping because the bias-covered edge likes to get in the way a little bit, but it’s not too bad.
The adjustments I made to this pattern made the finished product feel WONDERFUL.
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I’m really thinking hard to analyze how I want to feel in my clothes during each season, and so far what I have come up with for summer is loose and breezy, which means no tight clothes (except things like bathing suits), lots of breathable cotton and linen wovens, and plenty of elastic waists. Even without an elastic waist, I love these pants for summer. They’re nice and loose, and I would definitely consider trying to lengthen them to full length and make them in linen or some other great fabric. I think I have worn them almost every day this week (don’t worry–they’re going in the wash after today).
I know that’s the picture you were all waiting for. 😉 Have a great weekend.
Hi, everyone! It’s been a little while, but I finally have some finished projects to share that are slowly getting photographed. I usually work in batches and I love it when I get to the sewing part of a batch because it feels like I’m quickly turning out projects. What it really means is that I spent a lot of time planning, tracing, and cutting a bunch of things, but it still feels great to finish several projects in a row. One of the projects in this latest batch is a popular free pattern that has been around for almost six years, but that I hadn’t tried. This year it was finally time to jump on board since I really need some shorts…and elastic-waist shorts sound amazing. The pattern is the City Gym Shorts for All Ages from Purl Soho.
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This pattern comes in a range of kids’ and adult sizes. It was published before PDF patterns were as popular as they are now, so it and the directions look a little different from what you might commonly see today, but I think they are still good. I used the largest women’s size. Although I’ve purchased a small amount of fabric in the last several months, I’m mostly trying to use what I have on hand as much as possible, so I pulled out some vintage sheets and some bias tape I had as well as whatever thread was closest in color to my fabric, and got started. I had to buy some elastic, but that was it.
The directions were pretty straightforward, although the seam allowance is only 1/4″, so keep that in mind or your shorts won’t fit as expected. The nice thing about this smaller-than-usual seam allowance is that you won’t have to trim your seams. I didn’t bother too much with making my sewing look pretty for this version, except where I sewed on the bias tape. The goal was to finish these quickly so I could try them out.
The one thing I changed was the waistband. I plan to follow the directions if I make this pattern again, but for this pair, I wanted to use the folded over edge at the top of the sheet as my casing. That did make the casing a bit wider than what is called for, so I anchored my elastic by sewing through the waistband at the sides, front, and back so it wouldn’t flip around in the wash or while I’m wearing the shorts.
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Once I finished the shorts and tried them on, my initial thoughts were that these were pretty good! I liked the length and found them pretty comfortable. I thought that if I made them again, they should have pockets (of course!) and possibly a bit of a full seat adjustment and back crotch length extension as well as possibly a bit more ease (maybe I would grade up one size). After wearing them for awhile, though, I think all those things (except the pockets) are things that might improve this pattern slightly for me, but aren’t things I absolutely have to do to enjoy wearing these shorts. I’m really happy with them.
Speaking of pockets, if you have tried this pattern or want to try it, but also want somewhere to hold your keys or phone, I found this post on the Zaaberry Handmade blog that covers her variation of this pattern and includes how to add pockets (she links to a tutorial she created for adding pockets). In her version, she eliminates the bias binding. If you want slash pockets, but want to keep the bias binding, you could check out this post over on the All Wrapped Up blog. What I haven’t found is anyone who added inseam pockets and kept the bias binding. Those are the lines I was thinking along, although I also really like what each of the these women did, so I would be open to either pocket style (slash or inseam).
One tip I have is that if you are running short on matching bias tape, attach what you have to the front side seams first as most of the back side seams will be covered and you could easily hide mismatched bias tape there if you wanted to.
I think the City Gym Shorts pattern would be a good one for a beginner. It doesn’t have too many pieces or things like buttons or zippers, and you can make it out of quilting cotton or even old sheets, like I did. You can purchase bias tape or learn to make your own, so it’s a good skill builder while still being completely doable. And for the seasoned sewist, it’s a fun and quick project with lots of possibilities to customize the end product.
I got dress-obsessed this spring and wanted to sew all the boho, ruffled, yoked, big-sleeved dresses. It’s one of my summer goals to wear more dresses, so after sifting through many, many patterns, I decided to revisit Simplicity 8689, my favorite dress pattern from last summer (in black and yellow here).
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I had a beautiful cotton gauze border print from Pintuck & Purl that seemed perfect for this pattern, especially now that I had my colorful slips. While most of the fabric has numbers and symbols on it, one edge has gray and burgundy stripes.
I chose to make View A with the sleeves of View B.
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While my size has changed a bit since last year, this dress has a nice amount of ease, so I used my previously traced pattern and sewed a 16 bust and 20 waist and hip. I found one issue that I had failed to address (or even remember) from last year. Due to some adjustments I made last time, my front and back bodice side seams were different lengths. I never think to walk my seams (i.e. compare the lengths of seams that are meant to be sewn together to make sure they are the same length) after adjusting things, and this time it came back to bite me. The back was 3/4″ shorter than the front. In the end, I cut the front shorter, but I made sure to adjust my pattern for next time.
I used a 70/10 Microtex needle to sew this gauze. I was a little worried that it would be really delicate, and while ripping out seams had to be done carefully, it wasn’t hard to sew. I used a combination of turning and stitching, French seams, mock French seams, and a small zigzag to finish various parts of the inside. I wanted to use French seams throughout, but that wasn’t possible in places like the center front bodice seam or along the side seams and pockets. I wanted everything to look nice on the inside since the gauze is actually somewhat sheer. You can really see this with the pockets, but since I had enough fabric for pockets, I didn’t want to omit them. No regrets on that choice!
One thing I might try some other time is lengthening the sleeve and adding an elastic casing and elastic instead of the cuff, but I need to wear the dress more to be sure. I did lengthen the cuff pattern piece to increase the cuff circumference and give my hand a little more room to go through (just to be safe), and I really like how it turned out. So far it’s pretty comfortable.
And I love the dress with the colored slips underneath.
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I initially kept the front plain except for having used the striped border in the yoke, but the dress was just a bit boring and I wasn’t excited about it (see below).
Even though I can order sewing supplies, I have been taking the last few months to try to do a better job of using what I already have, which has been a fun challenge. After thinking it over for quite awhile, I added the ivory rickrack,
and then used hooks and eyes and embroidery floss to create removable silver cords to attach to the front.
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I tried making a few different tassels, but none of them were right, so I did end up ordering some silver ones from the paper crafting department of Hobby Lobby and used jewelry-making supplies to attach them.
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I like the dress so much better now and have already worn it a few times. I love having several fun, comfortable dresses that I really like.
How about if we squeeze one more summer sewing post in? Partly because I like to be thorough and partly because I’ll forget what I did with this pattern (and probably that I made it once it’s packed away) if I don’t. Sad, but true! 🙂
Today’s project is the sleeveless view of the Sew Liberated Matcha Top in a beautiful Italian cotton voile. This fabric was a gift from Maggie at Pintuck & Purl, bought on a trip to Rome. Fancy! Therefore, it sat in my stash for awhile because I was saving it for just the right project. I finally narrowed it down to the Matcha Top, which can be made sleeveless or with three-quarter-length sleeves. I bought the paper pattern at Pintuck & Purl.
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Initially, I was a bit surprised at the sizes my measurements put me at. I’m often one size at the bust and the next size up or thereabouts for the waist and hips. This pattern had me at an 8 bust, 16 waist, and 22 hip, which seemed pretty different than usual. Obviously every pattern company is unique, but this was very different. Luckily, the pattern book gives you tips for choosing a size that will give you the intended fit, which is fairly loose everywhere but at the shoulders. In the directions, you are told how to measure your shoulders to get a good fit and to base your size off of that. Thanks to these directions, I made a size 10.
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There were only two fitting changes I made. The first was to lower the armhole by two inches. That meant that the armhole facings no longer matched, so I bound the armholes with bias tape, turning it inside so it wasn’t visible from the outside.
The second fitting change was to take a small tuck at the top back of each shoulder since it was gaping there. I probably need some sort of forward shoulder adjustment in the future.
I also added piping at the shoulders so the shoulder details didn’t disappear. I love how that turned out!
For seam finishes, I pressed my seams open, and then turned the seam allowances under and topstitched each down. It makes me happy that this shirt looks almost as nice on the inside as it does on the outside; plus that seam finish will strengthen the seams.
One other bit of strengthening I did was to stitch horizontally under the bottom of the v-neck after doing the sewing that the directions dictated.
Before I knew it, I was finished with this top!
After completing it, I realized that I forgot to pattern match the center front seam! I couldn’t believe it, but I wasn’t going back. Hopefully I learned my lesson for next time, right? 😉
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This was a really quick and satisfying sew, and in this soft and floaty voile, it makes an ideal summer top. The directions were well-written, and the fact that there aren’t a ton of steps means you can take your time and do a really good job. I’d love to try the sleeved version sometime!
Hi, everyone! It’s been awhile! It felt so good to take a nice, long break this summer. I really needed it. We wait all year for warm weather in New England, and I just wanted to soak it all up. Summer is gorgeous here.
This summer I tried to think about what I really want in my warm-weather clothes. It took me almost until the end of the season to really figure it out, but I did manage to sew a (very) few things that fit my wardrobe ideals. In fact, I found a pattern I liked so much that I made it twice: Simplicity 8689.
Version 1
Version 2
I have made a few somewhat successful dresses in the past, but I think I really found what I was looking for in this pattern: all undergarments are covered, it is loose and doesn’t cling in hot weather, it’s long enough that I don’t have to worry about a gust of wind exposing me, and, of course, it has pockets. I also love that this pattern has so many possibilities for variation (and decoration!). That’s the case with any pattern, but this is one where I can really see those possibilities.
I had fallen in love with a combination of black eyelet and light purple/pink voile at Joann’s in the spring, and when it went on sale, I snapped it up. Originally I had it earmarked for another pattern, but I’m so glad I went with this one. I figured I could underline the eyelet in voile, which would provide modesty and create a cool effect. If you aren’t familiar with it, underlining involves taking two layers of fabric and treating them as one, reducing wrinkling and providing many other benefits. For my purposes, the reduced wrinkling and the modesty underlining provided me with were key.
Pattern Choices
I chose to make View B, the tunic length, with an added 8″ ruffle (before hemming) at the bottom.
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I cut a 16 at the bust and graded to a 20 for the waist and hips. I like a fair amount of ease, but if you don’t, you may want to think twice about grading out. I probably could have made this in a straight 16 and been fine. If you look at the back of the dress, you can see that there is a lot of fabric being gathered in by the waist ties.
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Pattern Adjustments
*Borrowed the short flutter sleeve from vintage Butterick 3731. I actually didn’t even notice that I was putting a raglan sleeve on a set-in sleeve pattern until writing this post…hm. I’m glad it worked out! That explains why my sleeves are so long!
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*Added 2.25″ of length to the bodice, changing it to 2″ on my second dress
*Major broad back adjustment (enough to preserve the ease that was supposed to exist in this pattern, which is 4.5″ above body measurements; you can see how I do a major broad back adjustment here)
*Low bust adjustment, moving the bust point on the princess seams down 7/8″ (and then taking 7/8″ off the bottom edge of the bodice)
*Lowered the placement points for the back ties until they were 1″ above the bottom edge of the bodice
*On my second dress, I raised the pockets 2″ so they would end up where they were before I lowered the waistline
This sounds like a lot of adjustments, but I was committed to getting the result I wanted, and they were worth it. For information on broad back adjustments and lowering bust points, I used The Perfect Fit from The Singer Sewing Reference Library. These books are cheap and easy to pick up used. I have a lot of them, and this is probably the one I turn to the most.
After making my first dress in black eyelet with black mini pom pom trim, and wearing it every Sunday for a month, I was completely smitten. While in Michigan, I managed to hit the fabric sale at Field’s Fabrics in Holland, MI and found some cotton bubble gauze. I bought four yards, thinking I could double layer it for opacity (more underlining!), and make something fun. I settled on making another version of Simplicity 8689 with all the beautiful trims I could find.
Martha Moore’s versions of this pattern influenced me heavily. You can see her black dress on PatternReview here and her brightly-colored embellished dress on PatternReview here. It was through one of Martha’s reviews that I discovered and fell in love with fashion designer Dodo Bar Or’s resort collections (here’s a link to her Resort 2019 collection), and decided I needed something like that in my life.
While at Field’s, I found the floral ribbon, and added rickrack and big pom pom trim from Joann’s plus more baby pom poms from Amazon. These colors make me SO HAPPY. I love them. Getting everything just right took some very careful sewing!
I made the sleeve a single layer of gauze and hemmed the two layers on the bottom ruffle to different lengths for a fun effect. Quarter inch iron-on adhesive was helpful in getting crisp hems in those areas.
Truthfully, I wasn’t sure how the dress would come out in the gauze. It’s a bit crinkly, and after consulting the experts at Pintuck & Purl, I didn’t try to iron it, but sewed it as it came out of the dryer, and this worked well. It probably is a little larger/more relaxed after wearing than the black one, but it’s hard to tell (without actually measuring) if that’s reality or just my perception because of how the light and color interact in each garment.
Garment Details
*I used a plain black fabric for the facings and pockets in the black dress. In the yellow dress, I used part of a fat quarter of Liberty of London Tana Lawn I got in a fabric trade. The colors are great! Quilting cotton was perfect for the pockets, and part of that same selvedge made a great tag for the dress.
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*If you look closely on the black eyelet dress, you can see that I managed to mostly pattern match the front center seam, and I alternated the direction of the embroidery on the front yoke, side panels, skirt, and bottom ruffle.
*I used shiny nylon cord and tassels plus other odds and ends from the jewelry section of the craft store to add tassels to the black dress. Originally the cords were sewn into the neckline, but they broke in the wash. I tried to sew them on again by hand, but it looks messy and is starting to separate again. If I make this pattern again, I will try to come up with a good way to make them detachable for the wash, maybe with hooks and eyes.
The tassels themselves are removable, thanks to some jewelry clasps.
Anyway…
I finally feel like, after a few years of searching, I have found a summer dress I love. I feel confident, secure, and beautiful when I wear these. I know they are a little different from the norm (especially the yellow dress), but sometimes fashion takes courage.
It’s summer! I don’t have a finished project to share today (although I do have one in progress!), so I thought it would be fun to share some summer sewing inspiration with you.
I love summer clothing that is loose-fitting so that the breeze can blow through and keep me cool, and at the moment, I just want to sew easy things. However…since I don’t always feel this way (and I know other people go back and forth, too), I’m including some simple as well as more complex patterns in this list. Some are free, some are from independent designers, and some are from the Big 4 (Butterick, Simplicity, McCall’s, and Vogue). Let’s dive in!
Tops
It would be terrific to find some staple patterns that are either great basics to showcase fun fabric or have interesting style lines. I’m currently making the Peppermint Magazine Peplum Top.
This is a free pattern that seemed like a nice twist on a basic tank top. I’ve heard this is pretty cropped, so I’m making the pattern as is, but may lengthen it in the future. I’m using a vintage sheet and some vintage trim that I have on hand, but it would also be great in the new Mariner Cloth designed by Alison Glass for Andover or a drapey linen or silk.
The illustrations on the pattern envelope are pretty basic, but I think that’s the point of the top. It’s basic and can be used as your everyday woven t-shirt or tank. It can be something you make to blend with the rest of your wardrobe or it can stand out and feature a cool fabric. View F with the length of E really appeals to me since I don’t have a go-to woven t-shirt pattern. This would be cool in Robert Kaufman’s Neon Neppy or a crepe de chine. Rayon challis isn’t my favorite fabric, but it would be really nice made up into one of these shirts.
Another garment I’m considering is Simplicity 8172, View A, a kimono-type jacket.
This is in no way a traditional kimono, but is loosely inspired by that garment type with its wide sleeves and loose fit. I have some beautiful polyester crepe de chine from Mood that friends got me for my birthday a few years ago. I’ve been waiting to find just the right garment for it, and this may be it.
Lastly, I would love to find a Tried ‘N True (TNT) boho top pattern. I thought about the new Phoenix Blouse from Hey June Handmade or the Roscoe Blouse from True Bias, but I just don’t know. Both are close, but I don’t think I’ve found the right one yet. Any suggestions?
Bottoms
At the end of last summer, I started to realize that some of my shorts are kind of short. This never bothered me in the past–in fact, I didn’t even notice it–they just seemed like a good proportion for my body, but that shorted length doesn’t feel as comfortable to me as it used to. I think I want something a little longer.
I love the easy elastic-waist fit and slightly longer length of the short in Simplicity 1887.
It has a flat front with a tie and pockets. I can see this in a sparkly linen (probably because it looks like that’s what the sample is made from). Robert Kaufman makes a great Essex Yarn Dyed metallic that I’m hoping isn’t too lightweight.
For more of a gym short take, there are the City Gym Shorts from Purl Soho, a free pattern. I’ve been looking at these for the past few years, but haven’t tried them. They come in adult and kids’ sizes. I bet they would be fun made up in a great printed quilting cotton, a chambray for something more basic, or peachskin for a look inspired by board shorts–or you could go luxe and use some Liberty of London fabric like they do in their samples.
If you are after something more complex and classic, the Thurlow Shorts from Sewaholic is a great pattern that I made in yellow last year (there is also a pant view included in the pattern).
If I end up wanting a more in-depth project, I would love to make a few more pairs in some of the other colors of Tinted Denim from Cloud9 Fabrics. Note that I straightened the legs considerably in my version. The original is more flared.
One more option if you want to dig into an interesting project that will take more time is Butterick 4995 (out of print, but available on Etsy).
These wide-leg pants come in shorter and longer lengths and have been on my list for a few years. I have some yellow linen from Fabric Mart that would be great for View B. (This linen does go on sale periodically, so if you can wait for a sale, it’s definitely worth it.)
I still don’t feel that I’ve found my favorite easy woven skirt pattern. Maybe the Cleo Skirt from Made by Rae? It looks simple, but has pockets and some fun customization options. Otherwise, maybe the Brumby Skirt from Megan Nielsen would lend itself to an elastic back waistband hack. It has an exposed zipper, but you could omit that and change the back waistband. Can you tell I’m into the elastic waists this season?
This is a different look, but I have two of the Short Skirts in my closet from Natalie Chanin’s book Alabama Studio Sewing + Design. This is an A-line skirt made from four panels that sits low on your hips. The top edge is covered with fold over elastic, and because it’s meant to be made from jersey, you can leave the bottom unfinished. Despite its name, this skirt is actually knee-length on me. Created before I started blogging, these garments are great everyday skirts if you make the basic, unadorned version. I have one made from a knit sheet and another patched together from a few coordinating t-shirts. While you certainly can sew these by hand and heavily embellish them, if you use the pattern and sew them on your machine, they are very quick and forgiving projects. Just a little thought if speed is your aim.
I would also love any maxi skirt suggestions. I made the ankara one recently, and I like wearing it, but I’m open to trying other ideas as well.
This falls into the ‘more complex, but very fascinating’ category. It’s some serious pattern origami.
I don’t think I’ll make it again this year, but I would love to make it again in a cotton or linen at some point since the rayon challis I used shifted and puckered quite a bit.
Here’s a dress that looks like a good everyday dress: the Forsythe Dress from French Navy Patterns. I like that it’s loose, has pockets, and has interesting seam lines that you could use to feature fun fabric (stripes, maybe?) if you wanted to.
I’d love a good maxi dress pattern. Any suggestions? Something really flowy would be nice. I just realized that all the long, beautiful dress pictures I’ve saved on my “Fashion Ideas for this Year’s Projects” Pinterest board all have long sleeves. Hm…
Of course, once you get started with ideas, they never end. I went a little crazy planning projects and managed to completely exhaust my brain, so I’m trying to slow myself down just a little and do some easier projects to take a little break. I’ll also be taking a break from the blog in July. I plan to post next week, and then will take July off, and maybe even a little bit of August. We’ll see. I hope you all have a great summer and if you have favorite summer sewing patterns or patterns you are excited about and are thinking of making, please leave me your ideas in the comments. I love new sewing ideas!
Pattern and Branch 