Sinclair Valley Skater Dress with full-circle skirt add-on, size 6p, short-sleeve, above-the-knee length plus one inch, broad and sloped shoulder adjustments, low screwp neckline, extended top length, pockets modified to not attach to waist seam, from 2 yards Nylon/spandex tricot hexagon print.
Once again, I couldn’t resist a nice fabric print that looks like it belongs on a piece of furniture. This time, it was a piece of designer deadstock 80% nylon/20% spandex tricot from designer Jude Connally. The designer calls the fabric “Jude Cloth” and describes it as “stretchy, comfortable, and low-maintenance fabric that moves with the body and delivers statement-making color, print, and style,” noting that it doesn’t wrinkle and has a “smooth and sleek feel.” It is 190GSM with 50% horizontal and 50% vertical stretch. It is basically bathing suit fabric. But this print is navy and periwinkle hexagons on an ivory background and I believe the designer used it to make shirt dresses, not swimwear.
After much pondering of what this fabric wants to be, I decided to use the Sinclair Valley Skater Dress pattern (one of my favorites!) with the full-circle skirt from the add-on pack for extra twirlability. This fabric is drapey but also has enough structure that the full-circle skirt results in a nice fit-and-flare shape. I cut size 6p, above knee length plus one inch and added broad and sloped shoulder adjustments, a low screwp neckline, and extended the top length since I omitted the waistband. I also modified the pockets not to attach to the waist seam (and thus, not pull down the waist).
I cut the skirt as two half-circles since the fabric was wide enough to do that. After the fact, I realized I could have done some print matching on the side seams, but I didn’t think of that until I had already cut it. I did cut the sleeves so their hems align, and I spent a lot of time obsessing over how to cut the neckband (I eventually settled on cutting it so that no blue hexagons would be visible on the neckband. I cover-stitched the bottom hem, sleeve hems, and neckband with ivory thread. I debated not bothering with the hem, as this fabric is not going to unravel, but I decided keeping it unhemmed might make it look a little less finished.
This is my second hexagon dress, and this one is bolder than the last one. It is visually a lot, but in a good way I think, and it is super comfortable to wear and fits great!
Pattern Emporium Making Moves Subtle Barrel Leg Pants, size AU 10, high rise, small front and back crotch extension, short length shortened 1 inch, 1.5-inch elastic waistband, front pockets (with modified pocket opening), from 2 yards dusty khaki PyLos LiKnit.
I made my first pair of Pattern Emporium Making Moves pants from black airflow. I tried the mid-rise waist and all the pockets. I really like these pants and have worn them a lot, but I found myself wishing that I had made the highrise version. Also, as much as I love pockets, only the front pockets end up being useful as the side and back pockets are rather floppy. For my second pair of Making Moves I used dusty khacky PyLos LiKnit, which is a color I would describe as caramel. The LiKnit is technically a knit and it has a bit of horizontal stretch, but I treated it as a woven for this pattern.
I went with the high rise this time and 1.5-inch elastic waist. I also extended the front and back crotch a bit. I made the front pockets only and I modified the pocket openings to be more hoizontal and thus less likely for things to fall out of them. As with my last pair, I did two rows of top-stitching on the side and back leg seams. It takes a little while but its fun to do and provides a nice finished look.
My black pants hit me at ankle length (probably because I want to wear them pulled up higher than they should be), but with the higher rise, these ended up being a little too long. I ended up shortening them by 1 inch before hemming.
I love how these Making Moves came out! The fabric has a only a little bit of weight and a nice drape that works well with the barrel leg. These are super comfy to wear too. I will probably wear them mostly with untucked shirts but here are some photos with them tucked in so you can see the elastic waistband and that they also look good tucked.
I like the fact that the pockets are less susceptable to things falling out, but the tops do gap open a bit. I’ll tinker with the shape of the pocket opening more next time. I also wonder whether I could grade the waist in a bit more, to reduce some of the bulk in the waistband. Especially since this fabric has some stretch, there would be no issue of getting it over my hips.
Pattern Emporium Sashay Stretch Flared Shorts AU 10, subtle flair, short length, with jeans pockets extended 1 inch, 1.5-inch elastic covered waistband, onyx Laguna stretch cotton lycra jersey knit
My daughter who refuses to wear any pants besides the black “flowy” knit pants that I sew for her came home for a few days and asked me to make her some shorts, black (of course), 95% cotton knit (safe for fire spinning), and make them a little bit swingy. She showed me a favorite store-bought pair that isn’t made any more. I looked through my shorts patterns and gave her some options, and she selected the Pattern emporium Sashay Stretch Flared Shorts in the subtle flare variation. I have previously made the full flare in the short length in a rainbow knit and in the long length in dusty sage liknit. I let my daughter try those on and determined that the size AU10 worked fine for her and she liked the elastic covered waistband. I altered the pocket openings on the dusty sage skort to make it less likely my phone would fall out, but my daughter prefers a large pocket opening, so I extended the jeans-style pocket bags one inch for her and kept the pocket openings as-is.
I checked my stash of black cotton-lycra fabric. I had almost, but not quite enough of black Santa Cruz cotton lycra leftover from the black t-shirt I made recently, so that wasn’t going to work. I also had two yards of the more expensive Laguna stretch cotton lycra jersey knit from Robert Kaufman in “onyx.” I got it for $12.99/yard form CaliFabrics (compare to their Santa Cruz stretch cotton jersey that sells for $8.29/yard). Laguna and Santa Cruz are both 190 gsm 95% cotton/5% spandex 4-way stretch fabrics. The only difference in their specs is that Santa Cruz has 75% horizontal/30% vertical stretch while Laguna has 50% horizontal/50% vertical stretch. Santa Cruz is a really nice fabric that is very smooth and polished looking, probably the nicest cotton lycra I had bought, until I tried Laguna. Laguna is also smooth and polished, but also has a lovely drape. Anyway, I used about 3/4 yard of the Laguna for my daughter’s shorts and I really like how they came out. I will use the rest of my 2-yard piece for a long-sleeve t-shirt for me and then I will buy more as soon as they get it back in stock.
The Sashay shorts are super quick and easy to sew. Sewing the elastic into the waistband before you sew the waistband on is easier than it sounds, and means you don’t have to thread the elastic through the waistband. I basted the waistband to the shorts with a wide zigzag before serging. I like this technique because I can check for uneven stretch and puckers and fix it before serging, which is a lot harder to fix. Cotton lycra fabric tends to roll so I serged the hem of the shorts before sewing the legs closed. I hemmed them with 5/8 inch knit hem tape before coverstitching.
Pattern Emporium About Town Popover Shirt and Dress, Size AU8 cropped length, short sleeve with integrated cuff, sloped shoulder adjustment, style 1 neckline with front opening raised one inch, about 1 yard of black LiKnit.
I don’t wear a lot of shirts with collars, in part because they tend to pull uncomfortably on my neck (probably due to my rounded back) and in part because they often come attached to shirts that require buttoning and ironing. When the Pattern Emporium About Town Popover Shirt and Dress came out I didn’t initially buy the pattern because of the collar. But this shirt has no buttons (that’s the popover part) and over time I’ve seen some really cute shirts that other sewists have made with this pattern. I was also intrigued by the sleeves with integrated cuffs, which are also compatible with other PE patterns that I own and I liked the cropped cut, which is slightly narrower than the Be Mine and Spill the Tea tops. And I’ve recently seen that some sewists have made About Town without the collar.
I made size AU8, which is my correct size according to the pattern. I did a sloped shoulder adjustment, as I have with other woven Pattern Emporium tops. I made the cropped length and shortened the neck opening by 1 inch (otherwise the opening would have gone all the way down to the center of my bra). I used the style 1 neckline with a front seam rather than facing. I used the short sleeves with integrated cuffs. I decided to use large scraps of black Pylos LiKnit, a rayon/nylon knit that looks and feels like a woven linen with a little bit of stretch. These were pieces left over from sewing LiKnit pants.
This is a woven pattern so I treated the LiKnit like it was a woven and sewed straight 3/8-in seams and serged the edges to neaten, as the pattern recommended. I used my regular, edge, and quarter-inch feet and switched between them several times. I think the result looks very much like a linen shirt. Because everything is both sewn and serged, it does take more time than sewing a knit shirt. The front seam, collar, and sleeve cuffs were a bit more work. Nonetheless, it was fairly straightforward and enjoyable. The pattern contains detailed instructions with photographs that make it easier to figure out the tricky parts.
The collar and cuffs call for lightweight fusible interfacing. I used HeatnBond Non-Woven Fusible Light Weight interfacing, which seemed to work pretty well. The cuff pattern is pretty clever the way it results in the cuff being formed as part of the main sleeve piece. I like the shape of the cropped version with the wide hem. I think it looks especially good with wide-leg and barrel leg pants.
I expect I will try this pattern again without the collar, and perhaps with the Be Mine or Meet You There necklines. I would also like to try the long sleeves, cap sleeve, and a sleeveless version (from the Meet You There pattern).
Most of the dresses I sew are with knit fabrics: they’re comfy and pull over my head without the need for zippers or any other fasteners. Woven dresses either have to be very loose (sometimes with a tie to make them less tent-like) or use a zipper or buttons, or elastic shirring, so that you can get them on and off. I’ve made a couple of loose dresses (my favorite is Pattern Emporium Meet You There), and I made a vintage sundress with a zipper for my daughter, and I plan to try some shirring at some point. I was looking to try a different woven dress pattern that didn’t involve zippers, and decided to try the Sinclair Eden true wrap dress for woven fabrics.
The Eden comes with a few different options, including five types of sleeves or no sleeves, two lengths, and with or without a ruffle. You can also use the pattern to make a top. After looking at photos of Edens made by other sewists, I opted for the above-knee length version with a ruffle and no sleeves. I could have made size 4p based on my bust measurements or 6p based on my waist and hip measurements. Normally, I could have graded between sizes but decided to go with a straight 6p and figured I wouldn’t need to worry about a broad-shoulder adjustment. Besides, the wrap style makes it somewhat adjustable. I think this worked out fine.
I selected the same 115 gsm light sage Tess Cey fabric that I had used previously for a long-sleeve top. I bought a lot of it when it was on sale from Mily Mae and after making this dress I still have a little bit more. It’s a nice lightweight and drapy woven that doesn’t require ironing and isn’t too slippery to work with. Since I cut some of it from scrap pieces from the top I’m not sure exactly how much fabric I used, but I think about 2.5 yards of 56″-wide fabric. The pattern recommends interfacing the belt, so I used HeatnBond Non-Woven Fusible Light Weight interfacing.
The pattern is not for a complete beginner, but it is not that difficult to sew. It is somewhat time-consuming, and I found a few annoying typos and parts of the pattern that could have been a bit more clear (see the end of this post). Nonetheless, I took the process slowly and enjoyed a fun sew. I sewed most of it with my regular sewing machine, but did a lot of switching between my regular foot, edge foot, and 1/4″ guide foot. I only used my serger for neatening edges on the skirt after I sewed them. The bodice requires darts and some gathering at the shoulders. I used the recommended burrito method for the shoulder detail and French seams for the bodice. The crossover part of the bodice and the armholes use a narrow facing with bias-cut binding, which would have been more intimidating if I hadn’t done that before. The waistband is 3 layers (inner, outer, and interfacing), each sewn from three pieces of fabric.
The pockets were fairly easy to make and they lie very flat even when I put things in them. These pockets really are hidden and they don’t move around when I walk. I always recommend pockets, but I highly recommend these particular pockets!
If you make the ruffle, it requires a lot of gathering — in my size it was about 13 feet of ruffle. I followed the pattern instructions to do the gathering in 6 pieces, which wasn’t too bad, but the clear-elastic gathering method might have been quicker and easier. I decided to go ahead and hem the ruffle before I gathered it and attached it to the skirt. This is not what the pattern calls for, but I think it makes hemming a lot easier. I pressed the hem under 5/8″ and then folded the raw edge under 1/4″ as I top-stitched it using my edge foot.
It took me a while to figure out how to tie the belt when I wore the dress (would be nice to have a diagram in the pattern). I first brought the short end of the belt across the front of the dress and threaded it through the hole and then brought the long end around the back of the dress and across the front to meet the short end and tied them. That looks ok, but requires the long part of the belt to be in perfect alignment with the part of the belt that forms the waistband. On the other hand, if I loop the long end around my waist under the dress and then bring it through the hole and bring the short end to meet it, there is no need to line anything up and it looks better. Having never owned a true-wrap dress like this I have no idea if that’s how they all work, but I think that’s how this one is supposed to work. If I’m wrong, someone should let me know.
It took a while, but I’m really happy with how this dress came out. It is pretty comfortable for a fitted woven dress, and I had no problems with it staying wrapped or gaping in the front. The waistband and belt have a nice tailored look, and there was no need for a sway-back adjustment or any other adjustments. The bottom corners of the wrap skirt do hang a little lower than the rest of the skirt. I think this could be corrected by cutting the outer edge of the skirt at an angle that hangs vertically and/or tapering the bottom of the skirt or ruffle on the open edges. I may try that if I make this pattern again, but it doesn’t bother me enough to change it now.
BTW, these photos were all taken by my husband in my front yard shade garden. Note the summer ragwort in full bloom with golden yellow flowers — this is one of the few flowers in my yard that the deer don’t eat.
Here are a few of the typos I saw:
p. 17, step 8, #4, it says to turn the raw edge of the binding under at 7mm / 1/14 in. I think that should be 1/4 in.
p. 22, step 13, the diagram of the skirt pieces in #2 doesn’t indicate which side is up for the two skirt front pieces. They should be placed wrong side up.
p. 22, step13, #4 says to overcast the sides of the skirt but I think the intention is only to overcast the sides that have pockets. Then in step 14 #1it says to overcast the edges together. However if you made the pockets, the two layers have each been individually overcast so there doesn’t seem to be a need to overcast them again.
p. 22, step 14 #3, the diagram says to place the skirt pieces wrong sides together. These need to be right sides together. This one is a critical error!
p. 23, step 15 #1 says to stitch the ruffle pieces at 5/8 in or finish with French seams. However, if you don’t finish with French seams I think you need to overcast the edges and that part is missing.
My husband likes the dress too! And as he says, “That’s a wrap!”
When the Greenstyle Corset Dress pattern was released a few months ago I knew I wanted to make it but it took me a while to decide what fabric to use. It is designed for scuba knit, but people seemed to have success sewing it out of ponte, swim, and other athletic knits. I didn’t have any suitable scuba, although I considered trying butter scuba from my stash or one of the several colors of ponte in my stash. I also considered a print athletic knit I bought a while ago and found it didn’t look in person quite like I was expecting. I decided it still wasn’t what I was looking for. I especially liked some of the print versions of the Corset dress that other people made, and also some of the versions with alternate color vertical panels. I didn’t have suitable print fabric, but I found some large scraps leftover from my daughter’s sage green prom dress and a light blue dress, both made from shiny mid-weight nylon spandex. I wasn’t sure at first whether the sage and light blue really went together, but after staring at them in my sewing room for a couple of weeks I decided they would work. And since I didn’t have enough of either of these fabrics for a whole dress, combining them into one dress seemed like a good thing to do.
The Greenstyle patterns have a weird sizing system that always puzzles me. I measured myself, and found I was size B2 at the high bust, B1 at the full bust, and C2 at the waist and hip. I selected B2 and hoped for the best.
The dress bodice has 12 pattern pieces. I cut them all out and labelled them with a description written onto a piece of scotch tape. I laid them out on my floor as I cut them so I could keep track of them all and then I machine basted them together to check whether the size was terribly off.
I then removed the basting from the size seams and serged all the other seams. I didn’t have to pin them since they were already basted together. This dress has a 3/8-inch seam allowance so all the seams got trimmed as I serged. Up to this point, the pattern was a pretty fast and easy sew.
I won’t wear a dress without pockets so I copied some pockets I had used on another dress and sewed them on. I made one pocket blue and the other sage, matching them with the color on the front of the dress where they attached. As usual, attaching the pockets took some time.
The pattern calls for a shelf bra, which also serves as a facing for the neckline and straps. I used khaki-colored poly/spandex 250 gsm yoga knit jersey that I had gotten on sale for $3/yard for the shelf bra. I sewed the bra on and understitched it, although I did not add the optional elastic around the neckline. I did the burrito and added the elastic to the bottom of the bra. Then I tried it on. The shelf bra didn’t do much for me — this is usually my experience with shelf bras. I tried it on with a regular bra and it looked a lot better, but the bra was somewhat visible. I switch to a low-cut push-up bra and that problem was solved. However, the shelf bra fabric would not stay put and was peaking out along the neckline. I looked at photos from other sewists and saw this appears to be a common problem with this pattern. I also noticed that the elastic from the bottom of the shelf bra created a horizontal line a couple of inches under my bust. So I decided to cut off the elastic and leave the ends of the shelf bra open so it would just serve as a facing. I also topstitched around the neckline and armscye with a shallow zigzag stitch. This was an improvement, but the bra facing was still creeping up so I hand stitched a bit of it to the center seam allowance to hold it down. Finally, I fused 5/8-inch knit hem tape to the hem, and then topstitched with a shallow zigzag stitch.
In the end, I think the dress came out pretty well and it was fun to make it out of scraps. I really like how the color blocking worked out with the straps being opposite colors. I think the light blue and sage ended up working well together as they are both about the same intensity and sheen. Thus, the color blocking is subtle and the dress doesn’t end up looking like a circus tent. The shiny athletic fabric has enough structure for the skirt to flare out a bit, but also results in princess seams that don’t need to be topstitched down. I’m glad I went with the long length, which on me is just-above-knee length. The medium length is about 3 inches shorter and might also be ok, but I don’t think I would enjoy wearing the short length, even though it does dip a little lower in back. This will be a good dress for going out — probably not a dress I would wear to work.
All that said, I do have several complaints, and the shiny, stretchy fabric hides no flaws. The pockets don’t hang as well as I would like, and they might be slightly too small, but I can fit my phone and my wallet and they don’t look terrible so I guess its mostly a win. I really don’t like the shelf bra on me so next time I would leave it out and bind the neckline and armscye instead. I also have some drag lines around the side bust and I feel like the waist should be about an inch higher on me so that it doesn’t cling to my tummy as much. I think the straps are slightly too long for me; they sometimes slip off my shoulders when I am sitting down. If I make this dress again I would shorten them about half an inch on each side and might grade out the waist slightly. Or maybe I should make the whole thing one size bigger (C1) but shorten the straps and the waist. More pondering needed.
Sinclair Bondi classic fitted t-shirt 6p, wide screwp neck, short sleeves, broad and sloped shoulder adjustment, 2.5 inch above hip length, less than 1 yard of black cotton-lycra.
I made my daughter the perfect fitted black t-shirt to her specifications a few months ago, so now it was time to make one to my specs. This is about the billionth bondi t-shirt I’ve made, but maybe the first with this combination of adjustments: size 6p with broad and sloped shoulder adjustment, wide screwp neck, waist cut 2.5 inches above hip length. I used less than 1 yard of the black Santa Cruz cotton lycra from CaliFabrics that I used for my daughter’s shirt. This length works really well for me for a shirt I’m not going to tuck in. The size 4p also works for me in this pattern (see the recent turquoise DBP shirt I made in 4p), but I like the extra bit of ease with the size 6p in this fabric. This was a very fast make, even though I took the time to convert to cover-stitch mode for the sleeve and bottom hems. The Santa Cruz fabric is really nice, a bit more polished than some of the generic CL fabrics I’ve bought. However, I have an even nicer (and a bit more expensive) CL in my stash that I’m looking forward to trying for a long-sleeve t-shirt.
And here’s a photo wearing the top “in the wild” at the Carrie Furnace.
Pattern Emporium Meet You There dress bodice made with less than 1 yard black double gauze fabric (washed and ironed before cutting), size AU8, regular bodice shortened by 2 inches and then extended 8 inches down at a slight angle and folded under 2 inches for hem, mid neck, sleeveless, used batik quilting cotton for facings
I really like the fit of my sleeveless brown print Meet You There dress that I made earlier this summer and thought the bodice would make a nice top. The pattern suggests adding a ruffle to the bodice to make a top, but an Australian sewist named Mel made a super cute version with an extended bodice rather than a ruffle (she used a fabric with an egg print and made a fun video to go with it) and I thought it was a great idea.
When I made my last Meet You There dress I shortened the regular AU 8 bodice by 2 inches to be closer to my natural waist. So I took that as the waist for the top and then extended the side seams by 8 inches from there, sloping them gently out about 3/4 inch and then straight down for the bottom 4 inches to make it easier to hem. I folded up the hem 1/2 inch and then another 1.5 inches and top stitched. I used batik cotton for the neck and arm-hole facings on the brown dress and it was much easier than fussing with the loosely woven gauze. So for this top I used some thin, tightly woven black fabric from my stash, probably a cotton poplin.
The top is cut from less than a yard of black cotton double gauze left over from making a skirt for my daughter. I thoroughly ironed the gauze before cutting it.
I’m very happy with the fit of this top (modeled here with PE Vacation Vibe pants I made last summer in dark sage double gauze). I sized down from AU10 for both my dress and this top — it’s about as close-fitting as I could get with a non-stretch woven with no fasteners. It does take a little effort to get it off, though. The mid neck is a great neck style for me, and I like the sleeveless shoulders that are plenty wide and easily cover my bra straps. I’m not sure the back yoke is entirely necessary, but it adds a cute detail and a convenient place to sew a tag (on the inside). I’m also pleased with how this length worked out for me — just right for a top that I won’t be tucking in. The double gauze is light weight, dries quickly, and doesn’t need to be ironed.
Sinclair Valley Knit Skater Dress with half-circle skirt from Flared skirts ADD-ON, size P6, 1.5 yards double-brushed polyester, long-sleeve, above knee length plus one inch, bodice extended 1.3 inch and no waistband, pockets modified so as not to attach to waist, low “screwp neck” with cover stitching and self-fabric belt
I bought Cali Fabrics’ double-brushed polyester “Autumn tones retro geometric” fabric with red, orange, and mustard hexagons because I can’t resist sewing clothes from fabric that looks like it should be covering a chair. But when my husband saw the fabric, he told me it reminded him of the hexagon carpet on the floor of the Overlook Hotel in the 1980 horror film The Shining. It is not quite the same design, but I can see the resemblance. These hexagons are stacked rather than arranged in a half-drop format, their colors vary, and their dark borders are truncated, making the hexagons look like rows of little houses.
The carpet pattern was designed by David Hicks. It turns out you can buy that carpet, as well as wallpaper, fabric, clothes, and all sorts of other things made in that exact pattern as well as other variations and colorways. There seems to be officially licensed “Hicks Hexagon” carpets, but also lots of knockoffs. Apparently, a lot of people are fans of the carpet because of the movie, but it is also a very cool design. I might have to make another dress with the actual Hicks Hexagon fabric, although I’m not actually a big fan of The Shining (or any horror movie for that matter).
Because this is a busy pattern, I knew I wanted a fairly simple dress design. The fabric seemed to want to be a long-sleeve skater dress, so that’s what I went with, despite the fact that it is summer and it will be a while before I get much wear out of this dress. Fortunately, I finished the dress just in time to wear it to work for what is likely to be the last coolish day for a while.
I chose the Sinclair Valley Knit Skater Dress with half-circle skirt from Flared skirts add-on, a pattern combo I have made at least five other times. The pattern is pretty fast and easy, and fits well without much modification (although I keep thinking I should add a slight broad and sloped shoulder adjustment and then forget to do it). I was pretty happy sizing up from my usual P4 to P6 when I made my PETS skater dress with this pattern last year so went with the P6 again. Since I omitted the waistband I extended the length of the bodice by 1.3 inch. As I have done in the past, I modified the pockets so they do not attach to the waist to prevent the waist from being distorted when I put my phone in my pocket. I also found from past experience that I prefer a neckline in between crew and scoop. I’ve made several tops and dresses with my “screwp neck” modification, but recently worked out a low screwp neck variation, which I decided to use on this dress. It is a bit lower than my other screwp neck, but still not as low as the scoop neck designed for this pattern. I like this level of scoop because it plays well with a lot of my necklaces.
I sewed almost everything on my serger and then fused and cover-stitched the hems with a narrow cover stitch and one of my fancy cover-stitching feet. I used the same narrow cover stitch on the neck band. After much debate about what color thread to use, I chose a dark mustard color that blends with the fabric better than the off-white thread I used for the interior seams. After I tried it on, I decided I wasn’t completely happy with the way the bodice and skirt meet because of the busy pattern and the fact that the top of the skirt is curved while the bottom of the bodice is flat. So I made a 2-inch-wide self-fabric belt to tie around the waist. I think the belt pulls it together better and also adds to the vintage vibe.
It’s summer right now, so I’m wearing the dress with bare legs and off-white sneakers. I could see adding orange or mustard tights in the fall. I may need to make a cropped cardigan in orange, brown, or mustard to go with it for fall.
Pattern Emporium Meet You There dress, made with 1.5 yards brown and purple large floral print double gauze fabric (washed and ironed before cutting), size AU8, knee length (with 2 long tiers), regular bodice shortened by 2 inches, mid neck, sleeveless back ties, pockets (sewed down bottom of pocket openings), used batik quilting cotton for facings
I’ve enjoyed my orange cotton double gauze Meet You There dress from last summer, and have been looking for a nice double-gauze print to use to make another one. I found this lovely brown and purple large floral print at Califabrics last December and finally got around to sewing it up.
I decided to size down from an AU10 to an AU8 to make the dress a little less roomy, and I shortened the bodice by 2 inches and kept the tiers at their full length. I also made the sleeveless version this time, shortened the ties by about 3.5 inches and sewed up the bottom of the pocket openings (as I did for the orange dress).
The other change I made that I really like is I cut the facings from purple batik quilting cotton instead of from the double gauze. From my previous double-gauze sewing experiences I’ve discovered that it is really difficult to keep double-gauze facings from stretching. Kate constantly warns us not to stretch the facings in her fantastic instructions. However, when sewing double-gauze, I find this nearly impossible. It was so much easier to use the batik fabric for the facing — no stretching. I gently pulled the stay stitching to bring the neck and arms in a smidge to fit the facing. I picked a batik that coordinates nicely, but since it is sewn on the inside of the dress you don’t actually see it so you could use anything that isn’t going to show through. Since I made this one sleeveless I had to sew facings on the neck and two arms holes so was happy to use this technique!
After I finished sewing the dress, I ran it through a quick wash and hung it up to dry. This light and airy fabric was completely dry in a few hours. This will be a nice dress to travel with in the summer as it is lightweight and can be easily washed in a sink.
I’m very happy with how this dress turned out! Here are some more photos and a bonus picture of the rabbit who joined our photo shoot.
I decided to make a new airflow top to go with my new black airflow Making Moves pants and selected the Pattern Emporium Rise & Shine Sleeveless Top pattern, which I had never tried before. I made it in a size AU8, length 2, low neckline, simple hem, without a center seam or bust darts. This version is easy to cut out: just a front, a back, and 1-inch bias-cut facing strips for the neck and two armholes. Kate’s instructions and video on sewing the neck and armhole facings are clear and easy to follow, but I had to take it pretty slow, so it took a while.
I made the pattern as written, and it came out pretty perfect. I did struggle with a few things, which I’ll note here.
When I projected the pattern I found the notch marks on the neck facing too small to easily see projected on my fabric so I extended them and made them darker.
The airflow fabric grows and spreads a bit (but not as much as double gauze), but pops back. However, the folded facing does come out a bit wider than it should. This is not a problem, as the facing is on the inside of the shirt.
Joining the right shoulder after sewing on the neck facing was challenging. I had to try three times to get it right, and the seam is still a bit bulky. However, following the advice to tack it dow helped.
To sew a 5/8-inch simple hem I machine-basted 5/8″ from the edge (after serging), then folded at the basting line and pressed. I was able to sew at 1/2″ from the front side of the fabric without needing to pin it. When I was done, I pulled out the basting stitches.
I used less than a yard of 58″-wide 175gsm 100% polyester airflow fabric. The airflow has no spandex and thus officially no stretch, but it does have a bit of give due to the crinkle texture. Airflow is very inexpensive (especially when Mily Mae Fabrics puts it on sale), requires no ironing, and is less slippery to sew than a lot of other polyester wovens. However, it doesn’t hold a crisp crease when pressed. The color I used was called aqua, but I think it is more of a teal.
Length 2 is a good length for me to wear untucked. There is also room to tuck it in on high waisted pants, but if I was going to regularly tuck I might make the longer length. Rise & Shine has more of a swing shape than most of the other Pattern Emporium woven tops (Be Mine, About Town, Spill the Tea), which are all built on the same basic bodice and have side seams that do not slope out as much. Rise & Shine is designed to be sleeveless and sleeves cannot be added (although I could see mashing it with Be Mine to have sleeves with the swing shape). The neckline comes with high and mid options, but the mid option is similar to the low option on the Be Mine top. You would have to improvise (or maybe mash with the Meet You There dress mid neckline) to have an in-between option. I made the lower option and it is definitely lower than I usually wear, but I think it works out ok for a summer top.
Pattern Emporium Making Moves Subtle Barrel Leg Pants, size AU 10, midrise, short length, 1.5-inch elastic waistband, front, back, and side pockets (with front pocket opening raised 1.5 inches), from 2 yards black polyester airflow.
I’ve been wanting to sew a pair of Pattern Emporium Making Moves Subtle Barrel Leg Pants since the pattern was released earlier this year. I finally got around to sewing them up from about 2 yards of black 100% polyester 175 gsm airflow fabric that I got on sale from Mily Mae Fabrics. The airflow has no spandex and thus, officially no stretch, but it does have a bit of give due to the crinkle texture. It requires no ironing, and is less slippery to sew than a lot of other polyester wovens. However, it doesn’t hold a crisp crease when pressed.
I like high-rise, loose-fitting pants with large pockets, and while I think wide-leg pants generally look best on me, they can have a lot of fabric to potentially trip over or drag through the mud (or across wet bathroom floors). So barrel-leg pants give me a loose fit and room for pockets without the extra fabric. The Making Moves pattern comes in both high-rise and mid-rise. Based on my past experience with Pattern Emporium high-rise pants being too high for me (especially in the back), I opted for the mid-rise. I like the way the mid-rise turned out, but I might add another half inch of rise next time and extend the front and back crotch by half an inch.
The Making Moves pattern offers lots of pocket options, and I decided to exercise all of them! I made a slight modification to the front pockets to prevent my phone from falling out of my pocket: I raised the bottom of the pocket opening by about an inch and a half (basically, I followed the line of the high-rise pocket opening). I also made the back pockets and side pockets, following the pattern instructions. And I used the back-leg-seam option and added all the optional top-stitching.
The pattern is easy to follow, and there’s nothing difficult about the construction, but making these pants with all the options is a lot of work and takes a while. I love how all the features look, but in this thin, drapey fabric, the back and side pockets are not all that useful because the fabric doesn’t really have enough structure to support them if you put anything of any weight in them. The side pockets are unobtrusive, but the back pockets don’t stay flat against my bottom. Unless I were using a much heavier or more rigid fabric (which isn’t recommended) I would probably make only the front pockets next time.
I made the 1.5-inch waistband with Dritz non-roll elastic. I only recently realized there were different kinds of elastics and now I see why non-roll is a good idea for waistbands. The elastic waistband looks ok, but does have a lot of gathers, which is why heavy fabrics aren’t recommended. I’m tempted to try a high-stretch denim and replace the waistband with the one from the Walk Boldly knit pants.
When my Aunt Nancy asked me whether I could replicate her well-loved and patched light-weight yoga pants that she has been unable to replace, I told her I would give it a try. I borrowed the pants from her and observed their fabric and construction. According to the tags, they were “Alternative Earth” brand pants, a brand that seems to have gone out of business. They were size XL and made from a dark charcoal light-weight blend of 50% polyester, 38% cotton,12% rayon knit, similar to a triblend tshirt. The pants had no side seam and thus were constructed from just four pattern pieces: a left and right leg piece, a waistband tube, and a drawstring. They are super simple, not fancy: thus I’m calling them the Not-so-fancy Nancy Pants.
I decided to make a digital pattern for the pants by tracing them using my ipad and projector. I setup a blank document in Affinity Designer, drew a square, and calibrated the zoom setting so the projected square matched the size in the document. Then I folded the pants and put the pants on my cutting table and drew a series of rectangles, stretching them so their projections covered the pant leg and crotch. Once the rectangles were situated, I used the pen tool on my ipad to trace the outline of the folded pants. If the pants’ legs were symmetrical, I would have been able to make a mirror image copy and connect the front and back. However, I realized that the front rise was quite a bit lower than the back rise. Thus, I spent some time rearranging the pants and tracing until I had the whole crotch area drawn correctly. This would have been much easier if I had taken the pants apart, but I enjoyed the challenge of my non-destructive approach. Another option that might have been fun would have been the painter’s tape method, which I’ve heard about but never tried.
Once I got the pants leg traced, I added a quarter-inch seam allowance and 1-inch hem. I measured the waistband and drawstring and drew the corresponding rectangles.
Then I cut out the pants from black 190GSM 95% modal / 5% spandex knit fabric. This is a super soft, lightweight, and breathable fabric with a lot of stretch. I wouldn’t use it for anything with pockets, as it is too stretchy to support a pocket well, but the Not-so-fancy Nancy pants do not have pockets.
The pants were very quick to sew together. I studied the original pants to determine the correct sewing order. I serged the left and right legs together at the front and back crotch seams. Then I aligned the front and back crotch seams, right sides together, folding the legs in half vertically, and clipped the inseams together. I surged up one leg and down the other.
I cut two small notches in the center of the waistband for the drawstring. As this fabric doesn’t unravel, I didn’t bother reinforcing these holes. Then I joined the short ends of the waistband piece to form a loop and folded it in half horizontally. (The original pants had a continuous waistband that must have been cut from a fabric tube, so it doesn’t have a back seam — this is the main difference between my pattern and the original). I clipped the waistband to the top of the pants and serged it all together.
I folded the drawstring piece in half vertically, wrong sides together and serged. Then, I used a loop turner to turn the drawstring right-side out. I threaded the drawstring through one of the holes in the waistband, around the band, and out the other side. I knotted the ends of the drawstring. Finally, I turned up the bottom of the legs one-inch and hemmed them with a shallow zig-zag stitch on my sewing machine.
Here you can see a side-by-side comparison of the old and new pants modeled by yours truly. The top row is the old pants, and the bottom row is the new pants. Note that the pants are too, because my Aunt Nancy is actually several inches taller than me, but you can still get the idea. The modal fabric I used for the new pants is darker, stretchier, and fits closer to the body, but otherwise is a pretty good dupe.
After I finished the pants, I packed the new pants and the originals up and mailed them to Aunt Nancy. A few days later, she sent me these photos and asked for a second pair. They are soft and comfy and a perfect fit.
I was intrigued by the bold V-neck and simplicity of the Sonia Estep Designs Lena bold v-neck dolman top when I saw it in my Facebook sewing feed, so I decided to purchase it and give it a try. This is my first pattern from SED. From the measurements, it looked like size 4 would fit me but would be tunic length on me, so I shortened the pattern by 4 inches (I just took it off the bottom).
It was very fast to cut out the three pattern pieces (front, back, and neck band) from the black modal spandex fabric that I bought on sale from Mily Mae. I thought I could sew the whole top in an hour, but sadly the v-neck construction was non-trivial with my stretchy and slippery modal spandex. I’m not entirely sure why, but I think I spent almost 2 hours on the v-neck and about an hour on the rest. And even after all that effort, the point of the V is slightly off and the shirt doesn’t lie as smoothly as I would like where it meets the neck band (but top-stitching with a shallow zigzag stitch helped smooth it out somewhat). Next time, I would try zigzagging along the long edge of the neckband to hold the two layers together before trying to assemble the neckband. The sleeve hems were also more difficult than anticipated and might have benefited from pre-hemming before sewing the side seams. I like the drape of the modal spandex and it is very comfy to wear.
I’m glad I shortened the hem. This is a good length for me to wear tucked in or out, and it looks great with my new tweed pants!
Pattern Emporium Walk Boldly Pants with modified yoga waistband from Pattern Emporium Urban Pants, size 10 AU short length with adjustments at waist and crotch, modified jeans pockets and back patch pockets. From ~1.5 yard blue/black tweed bouclé knit, waistband lined with athletic knit.
Sinclair Bondi classic fitted t-shirt, size 4p with broad and sloped shoulder adjustments, cropped length, low screwp neck, in <1 yard of turquoise double-brushed poly.
I’m enjoying wearing my tweed bouclé knit jacket and dress, and since I still had more of the fabulous blue/black tweed bouclé knit, I decided to make a pair of wide-leg pants to go with the jacket. I used the Pattern Emporium Walk Boldly Pants pattern with a modified yoga waistband from Pattern Emporium Urban Pants. The Walk Boldly pattern really shines with more structured knit fabric that shows off the wide legs, and the Urban pants yoga waistband is a great substitute for the Walk Boldly elastic waist. I made these pants in my usual size AU 10 with my usual modifications. I used the lower waist, tapered the waist in a bit, lengthened the front crotch, contoured the yoga waistband and split it into separate inner and outer pieces, made the inner piece from a heavy athletic knit, and sewed half-inch elastic into the top of the waistband seam between the layers. I used the jeans pockets but sewed the pocket openings on a straight diagonal. And I added back patch pockets to play up the Channel vibe of the outfit.
Cutting the tweed was a bit of a challenge. I knew I wanted the vertical lines in the fabric to align vertically with the grain. I also attempted some plaid matching horizontally, but eventually gave up as the knit fabric was too fiddly for that. Fortunately, the plaid pattern is fairly subtle and so the lack of plaid matching is not obvious.
Now I have a dress, jacket, and pants in the tweed bouclé knit, and I still have a little bit more than a yard left. Perhaps I need a skirt? A sleeveless top? Or maybe I’ll use it to make something for someone else?
After I finished the pants, I decided I needed a turquoise blue scoop-neck top to go with the pants. I had just barely enough turquoise double-brushed poly left over from another project in my stash. I tetrised my adjusted size 4p Sinclair Bondi classic fitted t-shirt pattern to fit the little fabric I had with short sleeves and a cropped length — it was as long as fit the piece of fabric I had, but coincidentally, at 3-inches above hip length, also the perfect length to wear under the jacket untucked. It is a great length on me with high-waisted pants, but may show a smidge of midriff when worn with lower-riding pants. I made my usual broad and sloped shoulder adjustments and tried a new, slightly lower version of my screwp neck, this one made from the size 00 wide scoop. The DBP fabric is soft and stretchy, but also a little bit clingy to my rib cage, making me consider sizing up next time I sew a top with DBP.
Sinclair Bondi classic fitted t-shirt 4, high crew neck, short sleeves, graded in from armscye to hem, broad shoulder adjustment, less than 1 yard of black cotton-lycra.
After making my daughter an almost perfectly fitted sage green t-shirt, I modified the Sinclair Bondi pattern with a couple more adjustments she requested — broad-shoulder adjustment and a slightly higher crewneck. Here it is in black Santa Cruz cotton lycra from CaliFabrics. This is a nice, smooth 190 GSM fabric with 75% horizontal, 30% vertical stretch.
Sinclair Alana knit dress, size 4p knee length, regular neckline, short sleeves, pockets, graded in at the waist, extended front facings, from ~2 yards blue/black tweed bouclé knit.
Boo & Lu Onyx blazer, size 4, 3-inches longer than cropped length, with round back adjustment, small bust adjustment, lowered back neck, sleeves shortened by 2 inches, in ~1 yard blue/black tweed bouclé knit.
I am a huge fan of double-knit fabrics, and as previously discussed, those that resemble upholstery fabric. When I saw that Surge Fabrics had brought in bouclé knits in about a dozen colors, I ordered five yards of the blue/black tweed to make a Chanel-inspired suit. The fabrics in this set vary in fiber composition and stretch: the blue/black is one of the stretchiest, with 40% horizontal/ 25% vertical stretch. It is 280 gsm 80% poly/10% cotton/8% rayon/2% spandex. Besides the turquoise blue and black, there are strands of white, lots of bright colors, and even some metallic threads.
I found the fabric a little bit tricky to cut. It has a regular grid, like a plaid, but the way it is knit, it is slightly skewed. This drove me nuts when cutting longer pieces, as I wanted to keep all the lines properly parallel and perpendicular. I mostly succeeded, but I didn’t get the plaid matching to work as well as I would have liked, although it’s not super obvious. I also found that when I cut this fabric with my rotary cutter, it mostly cut just fine, but it would leave a few tiny threads uncut, even with a sharp blade. I had to go back and cut those threads again to avoid snags. I also had to be careful when I pinned it to avoid snags. That said, the bouclé was pretty forgiving when I sewed it. I used black thread in both my sewing machine and serger and even the top-stitching just melts right into the fabric.
I was inspired to make a Chanel-style suite, but there’s actually a lot of variety in Chanel suits. I decided to go with a dress suit with a cropped jacket and flared knee-length skirt. I opted to forgo the heavy embellishments, fringe, or buttons that sometimes (but not always) adorn Chanel suits. That gives it a less obvious Chanel vibe, but that’s more my taste. Of course, I did not omit the pockets on either the dress or jacket (are you surprised?).
I chose my favorite Sinclair Alana knit dress pattern, which I have made five times before. Most recently, I made a short-sleeve version in black cupro (which in hindsight, had too much drape and not enough stretch for this pattern, although it worked out OK nonetheless). I made my usual size 4p, knee length, regular neckline, short sleeves, pockets, and made my usual adjustments, grading in the waist and extending the front and back facings. I used a lightweight, silky athletic knit for the facings this time. The bouclé knit is probably a bit too heavy for the Alana pockets and there is a slight pucker at the base of the pocket bags, but it doesn’t show much. I knew that the bouclé had a lot of body and would flare out nicely with the Alana pattern, and it did not disappoint. This might be my favorite Alana yet.
For the jacket, I went back to my favorite jacket pattern, Boo & Lu Onyx, which I have also made five times before. I made a size 4 with my usual adjustments: round back, small bust, lowered back neck, sleeves shortened by 2 inches. This time I made it three inches longer than the cropped version and I added patch pockets cut on the bias. I have a love/hate relationship with the Onyx pattern. My instructions for this pattern are marked up with a lot of notes and each time I make it I add more. This time I took it slowly and the construction went pretty smoothly as I applied the lessons learned in the past. I serged pretty much every edge, sewed the seams at 3/8-inch, and topstitched almost everything down with my quarter-inch guide foot. I used tricot interfacing (Superpunch Fusi-Knit White HTC1300) to line the facings. I machine basted the facings to the jacket with the interfacing on the bottom to prevent problems with the jacket stretching more than the interfaced-facings. Then I sewed the facing in place, again with the interfacing on the bottom. I used lots of clips, as shown in the pattern instructions, to turn everything under before the final round of top stitching. After putting the whole thing together and stitching in the ditch as recommended, I found the facings still flipped a bit, as seems to always happen when I make this jacket from a knit fabric. But thanks to the very forgiving bouclé knit, I just topstitched a quarter inch from the edge of the facing all the way around (which is practically invisible) and now it cannot flip at all.
I cut 6-inch squares of bouclé on the bias to make two patch pockets. I fused 1/2-inch knit stay tape around the edges and then folded the top and bottom edges 1/2-inch (right sides together) and sewed a 1/2-inch seam along the left and right edges. I flipped the top and bottom back around, top-stitched the top edge, folded everything under, and pinned the pockets in place on the jacket. I then top-stitched the pockets in place. Finally, I sewed on a tiny hook and eye closure to hold the jacket closed without buttons.
I am really happy with how both pieces came out. The suit is washable, comfortable, and fits me perfectly. Sometimes I impress myself!
I’m a little worried about how the bouclé knit will hold up over time, but keeping my fingers crossed as I really do hope I can wear these pieces a lot. I used only three yards of the fabric, and I think I have enough left over to make a matching pair of pants. But that will have to wait.
Boo & Lu Periwinkle Dress, size 4, dress skirt shortened 1 inch, long sleeves shortened 2-inches, 2 yards black butter scuba with black ITY lining.
I have plans to make a long gown with a stretch lace overlay and was looking for the right pattern. I wanted a princess-seamed lined bodice without a neck band and a flared long skirt, but not a full circle skirt. I was thinking about using the Patterns for Pirates Gala Gown, which has a 3/4 circle skirt with an optional slit. I was hoping for a pattern that used less fabric in the skirt and was a little bit sleeker, but without being a fitted skirt. I thought about just modifying the Gala skirt, but then I noticed the Boo & Lu Periwinkle Dress, which I hadn’t previously considered because I wasn’t interested in the bodice flounce, which, while actually pretty cute, reminds me too much of dresses I wore in the 80s. But when I noticed that the bodice flounce was optional, I looked at the pattern again more closely. Periwinkle has half-circle skirt and for the maxi version it is closer to a one-third-circle skirt, which was exactly what I was looking for. I’m sure I’ll sue the Gala pattern for something else, but I think Periwinkle will work better for this particular project.
Before I make the gown, I decided to try out Periwinkle in the regular dress length for a basic little black dress. I used Mily Mae black butter scuba, which is a medium-weight rayon/poly/spandex that has a smooth “buttery” texture on the right side and a very smooth and shiny texture on the wrong side. I previously used this fabric to make a pair of black wide-leg pants. I used about 2 yards of the scuba for the dress and lined the bodice with black ITY for a nice lightweight lining. I made the pattern as written except or shortening the skirt by 1 inch and the sleeves by 2 inches and using pocket bags I have used previously on other dresses.
The pattern was fairly easy to understand and sew. The princess seams and lining were pretty straightforward. I did all top-stitching with a shallow zigzag. The pocket instructions say to baste the pocket seam before topstitching, and I decided to actually sew it because just basting it doesn’t make sense to me. Also, the pocket instructions fail to suggest sewing up part of the pocket bag opening to keep things from falling out of your pocket. But I went ahead and did that anyway.
The front and back neckline plunge pretty deep on me, more than I was expecting, but I think they look good. I can still wear this dress with a normal bra, but my back may be chilly in the winter without a sweater or jacket. After looking at the photos of the back, I think I accidentally swapped the front and back center bodice pieces. If I had sewn them correctly, I think the front would be a little shallower and wider and the back would be a little narrower and deeper, not pull towards the shoulders so much, and the little bit of bunching in the back armscye would go away. Next time I will try to sew it correctly, but I also think I may raise the back scoop a tad. But these are minor issues. I think the pattern elevates my basic black dress to a not-so-basic level. I can dress it up or down for work or dressy occasions. I’m pretty happy with how it came out despite the oops, and I expect I will use this pattern for the lace-overlay gown when I get around to making it.
Pattern Emporium Walk Boldly wide leg pants, size AU 10, midrise, short length, jeans pockets, small extension to front and back crotch, 2 yards caramel poly/spandex daisy jacquard.
I bought some caramel daisy jacquard fabric on clearance a couple of years ago, and it has been sitting in my stash with an uncertain future. It’s a mid-weight 250 gsm poly/spandex that feels smooth on the back. The daisies are soft and look like a towel. Last summer, I saw another sewist use a similar fabric in green to make a pair of Pattern Emporium Walk Boldly pants, and I decided I should do the same. After my flurry of brownish sewing projects, I decided it was time to sew the caramel pants before I take the brown thread out of my serger.
I’ve made lots of Urban Boldly mashups with a yoga waistband, but it’s been a while since I made a genuine unmashed pair of Walk Boldlys with an elastic waistband. I think last time I made them I used the high rise, but I realized that although I like high-rise pants, this high-rise is too high on me since it doesn’t come in a petite size. So this time I went with the mid-rise, short length size AU 10. I made only one small alteration to the pattern, extending the front and back crotch by about half an inch. I added clear elastic to the pocket openings before understitching to reduce drooping. I serged the bottoms, turned it under 1.75 inch, pressed, and sewed in place with a shallow zigzag.
The pants were easy and quick to sew, and a lot of fun to wear. I’m modeling them here with a PE Sweet Cheeks sweater, which is the Walk Boldly’s BFF.
I went outside with my photographer to do a photo shoot and noticed I was going to be photobombed by the construction vehicles parked up and down my street as part of a never-ending water pipe replacement project that has turned my street into an obstacle course. So I suggested to my photographer that we use the construction vehicles as a backdrop.
Petite Stitchery Adult Hollis Raglan, size small, top length, wide neckband, sleeves shortened by 2 inches. Made from four colors of hacci scraps.
I bought the Petite Stitchery Adult Hollis Raglan top pattern when it came out in 2024 and had plans to sew it up but never did. I was going planning to make one out of Polartec sweatshirt fleece, but never quite figured out a color combination that I liked. Last week while I was making another color blocked sweater from hacci sweater knit, I found a floral hacci that has been in my stash for a while and saw that I had other haccis that went with it. So I decided to take the plunge and finally make a Hollis.
The main fabric I used for the bodice is a purple “super soft large floral hacci” that I bought during a Mily Mae clearance sale for $3.50 per yard in 2023. It is 180 gsm poly/spandex and fairly stretchy. I paired it with a grape poly/rayon/spandex 200 gsm brushed hacci from Surge that I bought in 2024. I added scraps of 200 gsm poly/spandex sienna and rosy mauve hacci brushed on the inside, leftover from recent sweater and dress projects.
This is my second PSCO pattern, and like the Dovie dress that I made previously, the projector pattern files are sized at 10% of actual size. Not a big deal, but still a minor annoyance. The instructions were pretty easy to follow, but sometimes I wanted more details, for example, should I sew a particular seam with a straight stitch or a stretch stitch — often they tell you, but not always.
I cut a size small, top length, with the thick neckband. I shortened the sleeves by 2 inches, but otherwise made the pattern as written. The neckband construction is fairly unique. The front of the V is cut out in one piece, plus a facing, thus there is no seam at the point of the V. It’s an interesting construction technique and would lend itself to low stretch fabrics. I’m not sure it is any easier than other v-neck construction approaches I’ve tried though. I used my sewing machine to baste together the bands, sew on the cuffs, and top stitch the sleeve bands. Basting was essential to keep things from shifting. Everything else I sewed on my serger.
Hollis was a fun sew, and I would definitely consider making another to use up scraps. It is a loose, but not oversized fit, and I think it would work with a wide range of knit fabrics. I still might make a sweatshirt fleece version someday. In the mean time, I have a lot of the purple floral and solid purple hacci left over. Should I make matching pants?
