pattern tips – Sew Beach Life

Sage Top and Cinder Skirt

An Easy, Breezy Summer Outfit

A fitted strappy top or crop (with an optional shelf bra!) is the perfect complement to a light breezy skirt. I love it when Stitch Upon A Time brings an on-trend look to life!

About a month ago, I was sitting at the beach with family and friends and noticed the skirt a woman walking by was wearing. I know people watching is a common “sport”, but garment sewists, we tend to clothing watch. 🙂 Whenever I see a cute dress, top, skirt, or outfit, I start thinking: do I have a pattern for that? Anyways, the maxi length skirt she was wearing was made of a white gauzy fabric, had overlapping sides, and an elasticated waistband. It looked so cute, but I had never seen a pattern like it. About a week later, the testing call for the Cinder Skirt popped up and I was so excited to sign up for it! The Sage Top was also being tested, and I couldn’t resist the opportunity for a cute new summer outfit.

The design of the Cinder Skirt is perfect, with beautiful, clean finishes. There are no exposed raw edges, all the seams are enclosed. With quality finishes like this, no matter how many times you wash and wear this woven skirt, it won’t fray. The secret to the hem on the curved sides is the facing. My best tip for the facing is to serge along the inner curve with a four thread overlock, then press that inner curve to the wrong side of the fabric. This will make it easier to press, and keep your fabric from fraying inside the hem, even when using fabric that tends to fray a lot, like linen.

The facing is pinned to the skirt panel right sides together. See how smoothly that inner curve lays? And how badly the linen fabric (along the outer cuve) frays before serging?

When serging the facing to the skirt panel, up the differential to 1.3 or even 1.5 when serging the outer curves. This will help the curved seam lay flat when the facing is flipped to the inside and pressed. Just don’t forget to put it back on N for the straight sections!

I love the beautiful details of the elasticated waistband and overlapped panels on the sides of the skirt!

The waistband calls for either two rows of 1″ elastic, or one row of 2″ elastic, stitched in the middle. The directions call for top-stitching the upper edge of the waistband, inserting the elastic, then top-stitching below the elastic, and inserting the second row of elastic. I followed the rules on my first test version, but decided to try using my coverstitch and a different method on my second skirt.

I thought it might be easier to leave an opening for elastic, stitch the waistband, then insert the two pieces of elastic. To prepare the waistband for this, I serged along both short ends to finish them. Then I sewed the short ends together 1/4″ past the halfway fold of the waistband. I stitched the bottom 1/2″ of the short ends together too. This left me an opening for the elastic on the inside of the waistband. I pressed the seam open and stitched along the opening to finish it.

Notice how the bottom of the waistband is serged and pre-pressed? This will make it easier to do the final top/cover-stitching on the waistband.

Since even a narrow coverstitch is wider than a single row of top stitching, I had to make small changes. Rather than top-stitching 1/2″ from the upper edge of the (folded in half) waistband, I coverstitched 1/4″ from the upper edge. Leaving 1″ of room for the 1″ wide elastic, I ran the next row of coverstitching. As per the pattern tutorial, the raw edge of the waistband was serged onto the gathered skirt. The pre-pressed bottom of the waistband was folded over the serged waist seam, carefully pinned in place, then coverstitched.

It’s important to stitch slowly, and pause to remove pins to avoid breaking a needle or damaging your machine.

I love the beautiful clean finish on the waistband, and the professional look of coverstitching. I will admit though, that it took a bit of work to get both pieces of 1″ elastic threaded evenly through the waistband with this lightweight fabric! It’s such a fun skirt though! And I love that there are three length options- mini (which is what I made), knee, and maxi length. I still need to find some white gauzy fabric to duplicate the maxi skirt that I saw at the beach!

Here’s what the inside of the waistband looks like before adding the skirt and elastic. I could have hand-stitched the openings closed after adding my elastic, but because I finished the edges, I don’t feel the need to get out a needle and thread! Also, my cat obviously likes to hang around and requires petting while I am sewing! 🙂

The Sage Top is such a great companion to the Cinder Skirt! Being a fitted tank, it skims the body and works well with the gathered skirt. I love that it has a built-in shelf bra so that I don’t have to wear an uncomfortable strapless bra.

The shelf bra is surprisingly supportive and comfortable.

The Sage Top with shelf bra is not designed to wear as workout top (unless of course your bust doesn’t really need support for exercise). But for casual wear, it provides adequate support to wear comfortably. Because I have a larger cup size, and have a “grandma” bust, I always use powernet in every bra/shelf bra/swimwear/workout top I make.

The main fabric I used is a lighter weight nylon/spandex circular knit. It is super soft and comfortable, but doesn’t have as much recovery as say an athletic or swim knit. So I used a nylon/spandex swim fabric, and a layer of powernet for the shelf bra. And, I snuck some clear elastic in on the strap section of my binding.

I love that it’s so easy to thread 1/4″ clear elastic through the presser foot of my machine, and it feeds evenly as it’s serged into the seam.

This photo makes it obvious that I didn’t follow the pattern tutorial and do a double folded binding. When doing binding on a knit garment, I just find it easier to use 1/4″ seam allowances, and use the faux binding method. Should I be advising people to not follow the tutorial and go rogue? Possibly not, but it’s what works best for me, and gives such beautiful results that I’m unlikely to change my faux binding habit! 🙂 To accommodate the method, I cut the binding strips at 1-1/4″ wide, instead of the called for 2″. (1/4″ seam allowance + 1/2″ wide binding + 1/2″ folded under).

To prep my binding strips, I serge along one long edge of the binding, using a four thread overlock with a stitch width of M, and a stitch length of 2, upping my differential to 1.3 to add stability to the straps. Then I serge the binding to the garment right sides together, and press the binding up. Then I fold the binding around to the back until the raw serged edge aligns to cover the seam. Use plenty of pins to keep the binding in place, and coverstitch.

I love finding random designs, sandcastles, and messages left by beach-goers. I don’t know who drew this cool design in the sand, but I admire the precision and time it must have taken! It added an interesting background for my photos. So, thank you to whoever made it!

The design of the Sage Top and Crop is so elegantly simple- a seam up the center back, and binding. Easy breezy! Center back seams are great for shaping. In for the waist, and curving out to fit smoothly over the bum.

Yoga has given me some rather serious lat muscles 😉 even if this isn’t the most flattering photo. We were losing the light and it was a cloudy evening, so Dan (my sweet accommodating husband) just took a quick snap.

I’ll wear my Sage Tops with shorts to go skating. It’ll be nice to not have to wear a bra on hot, muggy Florida days. Since we’re busy working on a home updating project, I haven’t had time to skate in weeks. It’s killing me to miss out on my normal Wednesday morning skate around the neighborhood, but such is the life of avid DIYers! It’s also taken away pretty much all of my sewing time, which is why I don’t have any more of these outfits made yet.

The wind didn’t blow the overlapped sides on the skirt open. So there is enough modesty for general wear. Along with knee and maxi lengths if mini length isn’t your style.

So, I’ll have to content myself with this cute outfit until I get some more sewing time! I’d also like to hack the Sage Top, by cutting the crop length, and adding either the Max Top and Dress skirt, or the Wylde Dress skirt. Ah, so many possibilities!

The details:

The Sage Top and Cinder Skirt are new patterns from Stitch Upon A Time.

I used nylon/spandex circular knit, nylon/spandex tricot swim knit, and powernet from Phee Fabrics for the Sage Top.

The 1″ wide knit elastic for the shelf bra in the top and the waistband of the skirt was purchased at Wawak, along with the MaxiLock serger thread used for construction.

The navy lyocell twill fabric for the skirt was a surprise clearance section find at JoAnn Fabrics. I would definitely buy it again, as it was the perfect weight and drape for this skirt.

Thank you for reading and sharing my love of creating, sewing, patterns, patterns, fabric, and making beautiful, well-fitting garments! ❤

The links to Stitch Upon A Time may be affiliate links, which means that at no extra cost to you, I may receive a few pennies if you purchase through my link. As always, I only give my honest opinion. After all, it is my blog, which represents me!

Stitch Upon A Time Max Crop, Top & Dress

Pattern Hacks To Personalize For Your Style

I love pattern testing in the spring and summer, because I love summer clothes! This makes sense since I live in Florida, which has about eleven months of summer, and a month or so of cooler temperatures. 😉 Patterns that have multiple options mean I can make multiple looks with one pattern. I could have gone for the simple scoop or V-neck tops, but I gravitated to the cross-front tops.

Cross-front tops are such a fun, flattering look if they fit well. It’s important that the cross-over doesn’t cut across the bust, but rather, falls below it. Yet the cross-over needs to be high enough to cover your bra. I want to look a little sexy, but don’t want super revealing clothes. This can be a tricky balance, especially if you have a smaller ribcage and shoulders, but a larger bust size. Thankfully, the Max Crop, Top, and Dress patterns includes regular and FBA cross-over pieces.

I love how the cross-over hits at just the right spot!

Testing for designers that listen to feedback from the testers, and make changes accordingly gives me more confidence in their skills. Yeah, they may have made samples, and done some pre-testing, but nobody is going to come up with a “perfect” pattern that fits every unique body. And something that works in theory, may need a little bit of tweaking in the real world. I’m not saying that designers should change everything about their designs, but if a similar issue is noted by several people, it’s probably worth taking a look at.

That being said, it’s important to be a good tester. Take accurate measurements so that you can choose the proper size. Use fabric with the correct stretch requirements (if garment is for knits) and drape/weight (for knit or woven patterns). Be honest in your fit assessments. This doesn’t mean rude or demanding, because hey, the designer is a human being, worthy of respect and kindness. It just means pointing out any and all areas of concern in an appropriate manner. For example, explaining that your shoulders slope more or less than the pattern; or that the bust is too tight/loose/low/high, etc., but the waist fits perfectly. It’s important to take good fit photos so that the designer can see whether the side seams are vertical, whether it’s pulling to the front or back, how the shoulders and sleeves fit, etc. Every body is unique, and though we may fall into the same size, even if sewn exactly per directions, the garment may look different on you than it does on me. The best a designer can do (when designing for a mass market) is get the best possible look on the most bodies in each size range.

That’s why it’s important, (and something you’ll learn as you sew and grow) to know your body. For instance, my shoulders slope a bit, and I am longer than average from shoulder to bust point. Some designers use a more sloped shoulder seam than others, but when I see a shoulder seam that’s nearly square, I automatically know that I’m going to have to increase the slope by raising the seam at the neck edge. If I just angled down from the original shoulder point to the shoulder edge, then the armscye won’t be deep enough for me, and the garment is going to cut into my armpits. This fit issue is way more common than you’d think. It’s worth the time to make tiny tweaks to a pattern so that it fits your body.

The Stitch Upon A Time Max has sleeve options ranging from cap sleeves, short sleeves, mid sleeves, to long sleeves. It doesn’t however, have a sleeveless option. When you live in a tropical climate, sleeveless is a favorite choice, and it’s not hard to hack to be sleeveless. You can do this to your pattern piece, but if you think you may want to use your pattern for a sleeved version later, it’s easy enough to do to with your garment already cut and sewn. Simply make marks around the armscye 1/2″ in from the raw edge. Trim off that 1/2″ of extra fabric.

A rotary cutter and self-healing mat make cutting and trimming so much easier!

I chose to finish my sleeveless looks with a faux facing. First, measure the new edge of your armscye and multiply that number by .95. I know that sounds weird, since bands and bindings are generally 87.5% of a raw opening. But keep in mind that this pattern was designed for sleeves, which have a much closer fitting armscye that doesn’t need to be “brought in”. The faux facing is just to keep the opening from stretching out of shape. Cut two strips of fabric 7/8″ high, with a width of 95% of the length of your armscye. (In other words, cut the strips so the greatest stretch of the fabric will be going around the opening.)

Using a four thread overlock with a stitch width of M, stitch length of 2, and the differential up to 1.3, serge along one long edge of each strip. Sew the short ends of each strip together with a 1/4″ seam allowance, and mark the quarter points of the raw edge. Mark the quarter points of each armscye and pin the facing to the armscye, only slightly stretching the facing to fit. Add additional pins as needed, then serge, right sides together with the same settings as above, using a 1/4″ seam allowance. Fold the seam allowance to the inside, slightly rolling it so that the facing will be completely hidden, and pin the facing in place. Then coverstitch from the right side.

Notice how you can see just a little bit of the bodice along the top edge of the pinned armscye at the bottom of the photo, while the facing is completely hidden in the coverstitched armscye at the top of the photo? It looks *even bette*r once it’s pressed!

One of my favorite looks from the pattern was the cross-front ruffle crop top. But I’m not comfortable wearing cropped length tops. And the height of the waistband piece was a bit too long on my body, looking more like a dropped waist. So I decided to shorten the waistband height so it would end at my natural waist. Then I added length to the ruffle so that it would fall at my high hip, rather than be a crop top. Of course I also made it sleeveless #becauseflorida, and it turned out so cute!

I immediately wore it out skating, and love the fun, flirty ruffle!

Besides yoga, skating is my favorite exercise. It’s great cardio, burns plenty of calories, and is just so fun! My neighborhood doesn’t have sidewalks except for out at a main road with busy traffic. So everyone walks, runs, rides bikes, or skates in the street. My skating route is determined by which streets have newer asphalt, and are therefore smoother to skate on. 🙂

My husband usually rides his bike while I skate. He did a good job of snapping photos while riding! He keeps commenting on how fast I skate lately. I think I’ve gained confidence in skating on rough outdoor surfaces after only having (mostly) skated indoors on a smooth maple wood floor at the skating rink I grew up in. Although I recall skating in more than a few outdoor parades back in the day, the parade pace was definitely slow. I had forgotten how freeing it feels to have the wind in your face, listening to music and flying along like I used to fly around the rink as a child and teen.

Sleeveless tops are more comfortable when skating on a hot day.

The back view of the Max top is just as good as the front. It’s such a nice, smooth fit. I’m quite pleased with the bodice shaping on these tops. Adjusting the shoulder slope to fit my body means the back lays smooth with no wrinkles or pulling.

My next hack idea is to add a skirt to the cross front bodice without adding the waistband. I think it would look super cute too, although I’d probably serge clear elastic into the seam line when attaching the skirt to help keep it pulled in against the weight of a longer skirt. And perhaps a tiered skirt… Ah, so many ideas swirling in my head with this cute pattern! Which I guess sums up my feelings about the pattern. It’s a great base pattern with so many options, from simple V-neck or scoop neck, to cross-front, with cap, short, half or long sleeves. (Although it’s obviously easy to hack into sleeveless) 🙂 With lengths from crop, top, and ruffle crop, to dress.

Obviously I need more fabric to try all my pattern hack ideas!

Even the bird approves of my Max Top and Treasure Hunt Skirt! 🙂

The details: The Max Crop, Top and Dress pattern from Stitch Upon A Time includes sizes XXS-6X. For reference, my hacked green ruffle crop top is size Large, using the Large FBA bodice. My purple cross-front top is a blend of Medium and Large FBA bodice with size Large lower top. The purple top is worn with the Treasure Hunt Skirt, which is blogged about here.

The lime green (and plum shown in my sleeveless hack photos) rayon spandex was purchased from Phee Fabrics. The purple rayon spandex is a lighter weight from my stash. It was probably purchased at JoAnn Fabrics years ago. Can you tell that I love bright, fun colors?

Thank you for reading and sharing my love of creating, sewing, patterns, pattern hacking, fabric, and making beautiful, well-fitting garments! ❤

Sewing A Sonata

Adjusting The Love Notions Sonata For A Perfect Fit

I just can’t help but be drawn to pretty woven dresses. They are light and breezy in Florida’s heat, and the structure of woven dresses generally supports pockets. What’s not to love about that? The Love Notions Sonata Dress definitely caught my eye.

Well, there are a couple reasons I rarely seem to sew them. The first being that I much prefer sewing knits. Construction seems to go so much faster. 🙂 I can sew a pair of workout leggings with pockets, some kind of panel or shaping design, inner and outer waistband pieces, and a gusset much faster! But I think the main reason that I tend to skip over woven dress patterns is because I know that I’ll need to make pattern adjustments.

I am longer than average from shoulder to bust point, and I always need to lower the armscye on woven patterns. These are relatively common adjustments, and really aren’t that hard to make, they just take a little time. If you’ve ever tried on a top or dress, and noticed that the bust dart is above, or quite high on the bust, this fit issue may apply to you too.

The Sonata Dress pattern has cup sizes, which is what really drew me to it. Depending upon the block that pattern designers use, many pattern companies tend to design for an “average” B and sometimes C sewing cup size. They only seem to venture into a D cup in larger size patterns. But the Sonata includes a D sewing cup size, which is what I measured into according to their sizing chart. I love when size charts include upper and full bust measurements, because it’s so much easier to determine what size to make.

Your upper bust measurement tells you what size to make the shoulders of your dress. Have you ever made a dress according to your full bust measurement (which is sometimes the only bust measurement on a size chart) and had it seem too wide at the neck, perhaps showing your bra straps, and with the shoulder seam overhanging your shoulders? Using the upper bust measurement will help you choose the size that fits the frame of your body.

A pattern that fits my shoulders properly makes me happy!

The pattern tutorial shows how to raise or lower the bust dart. I find it easiest to trace the front bodice pattern except for the side seam, and then slide the tracing paper up, keeping the edge of the tracing paper aligned with the center fold edge of the printed out pattern so that everything stays straight on grain. In order to know how far to slide it up, you need to measure from your shoulder (where the front and back seam intersect on top of the shoulder) to your bust point (generally the nipple area) wearing the bra that you plan to wear with the dress. Note that measurement (for instance 12″), and transfer the bust point to your traced pattern piece from the shoulder seam line (3/8″ away from the pattern edge) down that same measurement (ie: 12″). Slide your tracing paper up until your marked bust point aligns with the bust point marked on the printed pattern piece. Now you can trace the side seam and dart marking and it will be in the right spot for your body.

If patterns tend to cut into your armpit, you probably need to lower the armscye too. When I trace the lowered bust point and side seams, I need to trace the bottom half of the armscye too. Apparently I am average from armpit to waist, because if I try to stick with the original pattern armscye depth, and then trim away until it fits comfortably, guess what my trimmed away shape ends up being? EXACTLY matching the original pattern if I trace the bottom half of the armscye when I trace the lowered bust point. Gosh I would have saved myself a lot of time if I had just done that in the first place! 🙂

The elastic at the back waist makes the Sonata such an easy fit. It gives the dress some shaping even if your waist doesn’t really curve in all that much. 😉 I’ll admit that I kind of cheated when installing the elastic. After sewing the bodice and skirt back pieces together with a 1″ seam allowance, you’re supposed to stitch the casing to the bodice and run elastic through the casing. My “cheat” was to stitch the 1″ seam allowance, slip my elastic in between the two layers of fabric, and anchor the two ends with a zig zag stitch. Then stretching the elastic until it lay flat in the fabric, I pinned the center, then serged along the raw edge, keeping the fabric and enclosed elastic flat and even.

Then press the enclosed elastic seam up, stretch it flat and pin it in place. Coverstitch 7/8″ from the seam line, stitching the serged elastic edge in place. Tip: it will be easier to keep a straight line while coverstitching if you mark the line with chalk or a disappearing marker before adding the elastic.

I’m always excited about having pockets.

Integrated side seam pockets are such a handy thing on a woven dress. Even when carrying a phone or car keys, your pocket doesn’t get pulled out of shape. Here’s my favorite tip for sewing side seam pockets with a serger: starting a couple of inches below the pocket, use your sewing machine to stitch up to the marked pivot point, and with the needle down, rotate the fabric and stitch around the pocket to the top pivot point. Keeping the needle down, rotate the fabric and continue stitching up the side of the skirt. Then snip the corners up to but not through the stitching line. Then when you serge the seam, you can easily straighten out the stitching line to finish the pocket edges.

Stiching, then snipping up to the pivot point makes it super easy to serge the side seam pockets.

A cute new dress with pockets? What’s not to love about that? I’m super happy that I took the time to adjust the fit and perfect the pattern so that I can make more Sonata dresses. The skirt length is a perfectly flattering above knee length. And it was totally worth the time to make matching bias tape so that my armscye finish looks as pretty as the rest of my dress.

Store bought bias tape wouldn’t match this wild fabric!

After nearly burning my fingers while pressing my hand-made bias tape, I’m thinking it would be worth spending the money to buy a bias tape maker. So, here’s to more Sonata’s in my future!

The details:

My Love Notions Sonata Dress is sleeveless, but the pattern includes short, flutter, and bishop sleeves. The neckline facing can be sewn on the outside for a fun punch of contrasting color, or inside for a more invisible look.

The watercolor floral fabric is a vintage cotton from my stash. If I had to guess by looking at the colors and print, I’d have to say I probably bought it in the early ’90s to make a dress for my daughter. I made her a lot of dresses back then, but work probably got in the way of me making one out of this fabric. Which works out well for me now. 😉

The purple facing fabric was a scrap of Art Gallery Fabrics cotton purchased from Phee Fabrics.

Thank you for reading and sharing my love of creating, sewing, patterns, fabric, and making beautiful, well-fitting garments! ❤

From Lounge Dress To Sexy Dress

Pattern Hacks And Serger Tips For The GreenStyle Valerie Dress

When the GreenStyle Creations Valerie Dress was first released, I put off buying it. I don’t know why, since 2020 was definitely the year for lounge wear! 🙂 Now that I’ve whipped a couple of them up, I’m really wondering why I waited! It’s a comfortable, flattering dress that can transform from lounge wear, to beach cover-up, to throw-it-on-and-run-to-the-store, to pretty enough to wear to church.

The shaped seamed back gives a flattering, comfortable fit that is so much nicer than a sloppy, boxy T-shirt. It has sleeves ranging from cap to long, but of course I chose to go sleeveless. #floridalife The curved hem (a shirttail hem) gives a more casual look, so I chose that and the scoop neckline for my first make of the pattern.

Talk about comfortable! This immediately became my new favorite nightgown and got worn to bed that evening. And worn around the house the next day while sewing. Surely I’m not the only one to sew in my lounge wear? Be honest, you know you’ve done it! 😉 I chose to bind the neckline and armscyes rather than do bands just because I can.

Use the same length for binding as recommended for your band, but only cut your strip 1″ high. Stitch the short ends together and quarter and pin the binding to the neckline right sides together. When you serge the neck binding on using the normal 3/8″ seam allowance, with your stitch width set at M, your machine will trim 1/8″ off. Press the seam allowance up, and wrap the binding around to the inside, pinning in place. Then top-stitch or cover-stitch it in place. It’s a super easy, yet professional looking (although technically faux) binding finish.

Windy days make taking photos a bit challenging!

People sometimes get nervous about hemming a curved shirttail hem, with memories of past wonky, wrinkly, bunched up hems. But it really isn’t hard if you do a couple of things. First of all, don’t sew with fabric that doesn’t have “recovery”. Generally speaking, this means it contains spandex/Lycra. When you stretch your knit fabric out, it should come back to its original size. If the fabric stays in a stretched out shape, it’s a sign that the fabric is going to grow and hang oddly and unflatteringly. Just don’t waste your time with it. Secondly, the Valerie pattern has a nice gradual curve not sharp turns, which makes it easier.

And here’s the most important tip: serge along the hemline on the right side of your dress, using a 4 thread overlock, stitch width of M, stitch length of 2 to 2 and a quarter, with your differential turned up to 1.3. This does two things. It gives the hem stability so that it won’t stretch out while top or cover-stitching. It also very slightly brings the edge in a bit. Then when you pin the hem in place, you won’t have excess fabric bunching up. You’ll just have a smooth beautifully curved hem.

Smooth curves and no weird bunching, it’s magic I tell you! 🙂

One Valerie dress led to another… as in the very next day I decided I needed another one! To change things up, I did a mash and a hack. Mashing the Valerie with the Staple Tank was a no-brainer, since the Staple Tank is my most used tank pattern. Simply layer your Valerie pattern with your Staple Tank pattern, matching the natural waist markings. Then trace the Staple Tank bodice merging it into the Valerie body .

This photo led to my next tweak, further pattern grading.

A seasoned sewist has learned and understands the importance of grading. But a new sewist is likely to be a bit nervous about the idea. You mean I bought a pattern and it’s not going to magically perfectly fit my unique body and shape? What??? Okay, the possibility exists that it will fit you perfectly well, at least as well as your basic ready-to-wear. But the more you sew, the more demanding you become about getting the best fit possible. And the first step towards that is measuring and grading. Pattern companies include a measurement chart in the tutorial, and it’s important to look at them.

You may be tempted to say well, my bust falls into size x, and my waist and hips are size z, so I’ll just make size y. Depending on the ease of the garment, it may fit. But it will likely be a bit large on your shoulders, and the top or dress may ride up because it’s a little too snug across the hips. Personally, I like when patterns include an upper bust measurement, as well as a full bust measurement. My bust is fuller than average for the frame of my body. So if I choose a pattern size based on my bust measurement, it’s likely to be too wide across my shoulders, which leads to bagginess above the bust, with the excess fabric digging into the front of my armpits. Super uncomfortable and not an attractive look. So I generally trace a smaller size above the bust, grading out to my bust size below the armscye. If my hips measure on the edge of two sizes, I generally grade out to the bigger size to give myself more room for the booty.

Grading to fit your curves leads to a curvy sexy fit.

All of this is pattern dependent of course, but on a more fitted style like the Valerie Dress or Staple Tank, it’s super important to grade. Some people get all fancy using a french curve to grade their patterns. Since I don’t own one, I just draw gently curved lines from one size to the next. Think hourglass curves rather than straight lines when going in or out on sizes.

Using the lower scoop back of the Staple Tank really changes the look of this dress.

You kind of get a hint of my side vent hack in the photo above. Since I was doing the straighter hem on this dress, I thought it would be fun to add some side vents. I marked the sides of the front and back pieces 4″ up from the hem, and made a 3/8 ” snip.

Apparently it’s time to buy a new marking pencil, since I’m working with just a pencil stub! 🙂

Serge from the snip to the hem, along the bottom raw edge, up to the snip on the other side, on both the front and back.

Serging the edges makes it easy to get a clean finished hem.

Then follow the pattern tutorial for assembling the dress. When sewing the side seams together, be sure to fold the lower vent area out of the way when serging off the snipped edge. Tuck your serger tails, and press the vents to either side and cover stitch. Then pin the hem up and coverstitch. You’ll end up with beautifully finished side vents.

I could have made the vents 5 or 6 inches long and still felt comfortable.

I love the look and fit of this hacked, mashed dress! It’s comfortable, and kind of sexy, while still looking classy. In fact I wore it to Mass on Sunday with one of my Sunday Cardigans.

It was hard to stop grinning in a dress that made me feel confident and pretty!

Here’s the takeaway: grade to fit your body; don’t be afraid to mash the Valerie with one of your favorite patterns; side vents are fun; and try my serger tips and tricks. The details: both the emerald and navy dresses were made with rayon spandex purchased at Phee Fabrics.

So, which version should I make next? I’m thinking I need to try the V-neck!

This post may contain affiliate links. This means that at no extra cost to you, I may receive a small commission if you purchase through my link. As always, I only give my honest opinion. After all, it is my blog, which represents me! 🙂 Thank you for reading and sharing my love of creating, sewing, patterns, fabric, and making beautiful well-fitting garments! ❤

Ready For Some Cute New Shorts?

Stitch Upon A Time Midsummer Pants, Capris, and Shorts

When the tester call for the Stitch Upon A Time Midsummer Pants, Capris, and Shorts came out, I was quick to respond as soon as I saw the line drawings. Being a Florida girl, I wear shorts eleven months out of the year, and I needed these shorts in my life!

It’s surprising how much the shorts appealed to me, considering that pretty much all my shorts are a variation of slim fit jogger style. I’m a Grandma. I don’t wear shortie shorts. But the wrap-around running shorts look is just so fun! So I expanded my horizons and tried a whole brand new look, and I love it!

The curved edges give a sporty look that accentuates your legs. And they can be wrapped to the front or the back.

My favorite pair were made with an Art Gallery Fabrics cotton lycra knit. The softness of the AGF fabric gives it a nice drape, better than what you would get for an average cotton lycra.

I also made a pair using nylon spandex tricot. The quick drying fabric would make them perfect for throwing on over a swimsuit. And they’re great for those beach walks when you might wander into the water because it’s so hot!

Fabric choice makes a difference in the fit. Because nylon spandex has a lot of recovery, the waistband will try to migrate to the narrowest part of your body. My natural waist is much higher than my belly button, so I think I’ll hack a higher waistband the next time I use this fabric.

I like that the shorts give decent booty coverage, while still looking sexy. The shorts are a quick sew, even including cover-stitching the curved hem. Seriously! Center front seam, center back seam, crotch seam, hem, baste, and add the waistband.

Which brings me to my sewing tips for the Midsummer Shorts. I like to up the differential to 1.3 while using a 4 thread overlock on the edge of the hem. This helps keep knits from stretching out, and makes getting a smooth curved hem a little easier by slightly easing the curve. Then when you fold it up, you don’t end up with a bumpy hem and it’s easy to top or cover-stitch. I also recommend top-stitching the wrap over section for about 4 inches down, starting at the waistband. This helps keep the wrap flat and in place whether you run or kick or stretch.

Are you ready to try a new look? Even if you’re not a shorts wearer, I can foresee some soft comfy lounge pant or capris for bumming around town.

Get the look: the Midsummer Pants, Capris and shorts pattern.

The emerald rayon spandex for the Aushui Tank was purchased from Phee Fabrics. You can read more about the Aushui Tank (including a fun hack!) here. The Art Gallery Le Tigre fabric was purchased from my local sewing store, but Stitch Upon A Time and Phee Fabrics both carry a selection of Art Gallery Fabrics cotton lycra knits.

The Titania Tunic was made with white circular knit and I used powernet in the shelf bra. You can read more about the Titania Tunic, and my workout top hack here. The teal shorts are nylon spandex tricot.

So, are you ready for some cute new shorts (or capris, or pants)?

Shorts Or Swim Trunks? How About Both!

Sewing For Men, Episode 3

My husband isn’t often interested in patterns, or in being my model for a pattern test. 🙂 He did however, really like the line drawings for the new GreenStyle Motion Athletic Shorts. Since he basically lives in athletic shorts, he was more than happy to let me sew them for him!

The Motion Shorts are designed for stretch wovens, with an optional liner layer made in 4-way stretch fabric. The front pockets are deep and large, so no matter how big your phone, there’s plenty of room for that, and all the other stuff guys tend to carry! The curved back gives shaping and is quite flattering on the booty. And the side and back panels give an opportunity for contrast fabric and pretty top-stitching.

The liner layer can be made of mesh for a traditional swim trunk style, or Supplex or other compressive fabric for support for working out. I chose to use nylon/spandex tricot so Dan can wear his shorts for workouts and swimming. Moisture wicking, quick drying fabric is key when making swim or workout wear. I use the same Phee Fabrics tricot for my swimwear and dresses, and he’s lucky I had this khaki steel color in my stash and used it for him, rather than the dress I had intended to make with it! 😉

After I made the first pair of shorts, he requested that I add a “hammock hack” to the liner layer, so that they would fit like ready-to-wear Saxx, and all the underwear I make for him. No problem sweetie, I can do that! ❤ Powernet is the fabric of choice for the gusset hammock, just as it is added to bras and swimwear, because of its supportive nature.

The hammock is a partial moon shape, with the straight edges toward the center, and the curved edges sewn to the center panel of the liner layer. After cutting out the mirror image hammock pieces, I do a tight rolled hem on the straighter side of both pieces. If you don’t have a serger, you can also use cotton swimwear elastic tautly stretched and zig-zag stitched to the straighter edges. Lay the hammock pieces on the lining center panel and pin along the curved edge. Then baste along the sides and across the top with a zig zag stitch set at 2.5 or 3.0. Then stitch the dart at the bottom of the center panel. Snip the top of the dart up to, but not through the stitch line, and press the seam open. Then baste it in place. Notice how having a larger curve on the hammock piece, compared to the curve on the center panel gives the wearer space to tuck everything in? (I’m trying hard here to be descriptive without being too descriptive if you know what I mean!) This is a family friendly blog!

At this point, the center panel can be sewn to the liner pieces as per the pattern tutorial, and the shorts can be completed. Here’s a photo of the inside of the finished shorts.

The pattern has options for 5″, 7″, and 9″ inseam lengths, which is great because they can be customized to fit your needs. Dan prefers the 7″ inseam, because he doesn’t like longer shorts that get caught on his knees when he’s working out. If I were making myself a pair, I’d choose the 5″ length. And yes, I tried his shorts on. I’d need a smaller size, but they were pretty cute on me too! The pockets are so much bigger than any other shorts I’ve made, so who wouldn’t want that?

They are flattering from every angle, and I am so excited that the beach has reopened so we can go for walks along the shore again.

And no photo session with a guy is complete without plenty of silly poses for your viewing pleasure! 😉

Obviously I need to make him a few more pairs, because he is loving the look!

I used stretch twill from Phee Fabrics as the main fabric, with a scrap of (no longer available) reflective chevron as a fun accent. It’s funny how making them out of all one fabric color gives them a dressy look, while using an accent fabric gives them a more sporty look. And I know that I’ve found a winning pattern when he starts asking me to customize and hack it for him! 🙂

Sinclair Yasmin Dress

A Few Tips For Simpler Sewing & A Peplum Hack

I was super excited when I was chosen to be one of the testers for the Sinclair Patterns Yasmin V-neck Dress with pleated accents. I love dresses, and wear them all the time. And let’s just say that the pleating and detail in this dress spoke to me. When I saw the line drawing and tester call I immediately filled out the tester application!

Sinclair Patterns are rather unique in that their patterns come in petite, regular, and tall. No more having to add a couple of inches to a skirt or dress so that it is long enough to wear without worrying about showing more leg than I want when bending, or climbing in and out of a vehicle. Armscyes that are actually deep enough. All the things that a tall sewist has to constantly adjust on a pattern are already figured out for you!

When you sign up for a pattern test, you’d better have some fabric on hand. Testing obviously moves along quickly, so you need to be prepared to print and tape your pattern together, trace your size, cut your fabric, and get sewing. Luckily, I had ordered some of the new rayon spandex ribbing from Phee Fabrics, and was smart enough to have ordered 3 yards. I have a bad habit of usually only ordering 2 yards or less of a fabric, and when you are tall, that is not enough for a dress with a full skirt! The ribbing has a luxurious feel, a pretty ribbed texture, and beautiful drape. I knew it would look great sewn into a Yasmin Dress!

Call me brave, call me crazy, but I am not one for using cheap fabric for muslins. Cheap fabric is generally a polyester blend, ewww! I don’t like the feel of it, it’s unlikely to lay as nicely as quality fabric, it’s generally a pain to sew with, and it’s probably not going to be substantial enough or have adequate recovery for the type of clothing I like to sew, so I just don’t bother with cheap fabric. That being said, you do run the risk of wasting nice fabric when you test.

This is the first time I’ve tested for Sinclair Patterns, and I have to say that I am very impressed with how thorough Oxana is. She asked for our thoughts about the pattern before we even started. I mentioned that I was interested in a sleeveless dress, since Florida is warm most of the year. Other testers also commented that they would wear a sleeveless dress. She added a sleeveless cut line to the pattern. She asked for honest input and made changes as needed as tester photos and feedback came in. Another thing you’ll notice about Sinclair Patterns is the way the garments are finished. Just look at how pretty the inside of the bodice and waistband look. The shoulder seams and waistband are enclosed, and the neck has a neat interior banded finish.

The pattern itself isn’t hard, but the pleats are a bit time consuming. Don’t worry- the tutorial is thorough, and I’ve got some tips to make the pleats a little easier. Here’s my first tip: print the bodice front in just the size that you need. I generally don’t print in layers, preferring to print all sizes of a pattern in case I want to grade sizes, or make the pattern for my daughter who is a much smaller size than me. You need the pleat markings to be precise in order to get even pleats. And when you’ve got lots of markings in 12 different sizes all in one general area on a pattern, you need to narrow things down! So trust me when I say to print the bodice front in just one or two sizes if needed.

Tip number two: Wash Away Wonder Tape is your friend. You still need pins to mark your pleats, but putting a tiny piece of Wonder Tape for your pleat to fold over and stick to, makes things easier.

Tip number three: Scotch tape is surprisingly helpful. Of course I didn’t figure this out until I sewed my second bodice and thought, “Hmmmm….I wonder if a piece of Scotch tape will hold the pleats better than the pins did so that I can keep the pleats even while sewing?” The answer is YES! It (and the Wonder Tape) definitely kept the pleats perfectly spaced and even while I sewed the bodice to the waistband.

Tip number four: Powernet is an awesome fabric. If you follow my blog, or read my posts or comments on the Facebook sewing groups I belong to, you know that my love for Phee Fabrics powernet is strong. It is supportive in bras, workout, and swim tops, makes a great accent on workout tops and tights, and has magical tummy smoothing powers in waistbands and swim bottoms. It is recommended to use an athletic fabric for the inner waistband pieces of the Yasmin to help support the weight of the skirt, and lend stability to the waistband. Since the Supplex I have on hand is destined for workout wear, I decided to baste some powernet to my waistband to give it the necessary support.

Use plenty of pins to keep everything aligned, and sew with the powernet facing up. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned that before, but when helping someone who was struggling a bit with powernet, I realized that some people may not even consider fabric stretch when they sew. Generally speaking, you want anything smaller, or with less stretch on top while sewing, such as powernet, elastic, bands, or when easing pattern pieces together. If your larger piece or stretchier fabric is on top, your presser foot will tend to stretch it out even more.

Summer in Florida is the rainy season. But it will usually rain for a short time, and the sun comes right back out. Not this week! It rained for two days straight as I sewed, and rained all the next day as I waited to take photos of my dress. Finally, the rain slowed down to a slight mist, and the sun started to peek out from the clouds. My dress was all pressed and ready to go, so we quickly drove to the beach for some photos.

The rain may have stopped, but there was plenty of wind to whip my skirt around! I love the pleats at the shoulders and under the bust, and how the V-shaped waistband gives nice definition. I used the gathered version skirt on my dress, and love the drape and comfortable ease of this dress.

Since I still had some time before the pattern released, I decided to make the other skirt option. Apparently I need to order some fabric, (says every sewist and fabric hoarder 🙂 ) because I didn’t have enough fabric for a knee length skirt, let alone a midi length. So I decided to try a peplum. I NEVER wear peplums. But the flare of the skirt really spoke to me, so I had to try it. I dug through my fabric and found scraps of floral that sort of matched the bit of rayon spandex and ribbing I used for the bodice and waistband. I marked and cut the skirt at 13-1/2″ from the waist, and used a 1″ hem. A smaller hem would be easier on a curved skirt, but I was just guessing at the length when I hacked the skirt into a peplum. If I were short, I’d probably make the peplum 8-9″ long, and would probably cut it at 12″, no more than 13″ for my tall self next time.

It’s such a fun look that I couldn’t help but twirl! And I’m branching out and trying a new style of top. That’s one of the fun things about sewing, sometimes you end up with a surprising, unexpected new style in your wardrobe. Although the skirt I’m wearing is RTW, using a pencil skirt along with a peplum overlay would be another cute hack for this dress!

There are options for knee length, midi and maxi length in the gathered skirt version. The elegant look of this pattern would look so beautiful as a maxi dress. Since I also love the flared skirt, I guess I need to make another Yasmin Dress (or two)! Once I order more fabric, of course. 😉

*Note: I recieved the pattern for free as part of the testing process. I always participate fully when I test by submitting fit photos and commentary, offering constructive feedback on the fit, process, etc., comment on other testers posts, noting any fit issues, and applauding beautiful work, and filling out the survey to try and help ensure that the pattern fits well, and the tutorial is easy to understand and follow.

This post may contain affiliate links. This means that at no extra cost to you, I may receive a small commission if you purchase through my links. As always, I only give my honest opinion. After all, it is my blog, which represents me! Thank you for reading and sharing my love of sewing, patterns, fabric, and pattern hacking. 😉

GreenStyle Warrior Pants

Made As Shorts, With Other Tips & Tricks

I’ve liked the look of the GreenStyle Warrior Pants ever since the pattern released. But I don’t often wear pants, so I didn’t buy the pattern right away. The idea of making them into shorts/culottes opened up some possibilities. As did the available length of yardage in my stash! 🙂 Originally I considered making them in capri length, but there was no way the pattern would fit onto my available fabric. So I folded up my pattern 6″ above the capri cut line, and decided to make them into shorts!

The pattern recommends lightweight stretch knit, so I knew that Phee Fabrics Rayon Spandex would give me the beautiful drape that is the hallmark of these pants. The pattern has an integrated pocket design that is vital to the construction of the pants. Since I love having pockets on everything, I was curious about the unique pocket technique. It can seem a little confusing, but if you follow the pattern tutorial, you’ll be fine.

When pinning the pocket overlap, the tutorial suggests draping the pants over your ironing board to help keep everything flat and smooth. My quilting ruler is a generous 8-1/2″ x 24″, so it was easier for me to slide my ruler inside the pants and not worry about accidentally pinning my pants to my ironing board cover!

I also employed a trick I first used while making the Sunday Cardigan, previously blogged here, and here. Since I don’t have a serger, rather than “neatening the side edges” by serging or zig zagging, I cut out 3/8″ wide strips of lightweight interfacing using my rotary cutter and clear ruler. Pressing these strips along the edges made it super easy to turn the edges under and topstitch later in the construction process.

Since fuller or flowy pants and skirts look best with a fitted top, I wanted to avoid any possibility of a “muffin top” that you sometimes see when using elastic in a waistband. Using a layer of techsheen (a more powerful version of powernet) worked perfectly! Simply baste powernet or techsheen to the wrong side of the inner waistband, and treat it as one layer while following pattern instructions. It will end up sandwiched between your inner and out waistband, and give your tummy a nice smoothing effect.

I’m happy with my Warrior Pants (turned shorts or culottes, or whatever you want to call them!) and think that they work well with the Staple Tank.

Of course I had to twirl around in them because that’s what you do when wearing comfortable flowy bottoms! I love that you can make the slit as high or low as you want. I haven’t tried tying the bottom in a knot, but I think that might be a cute variation.

These will be easy to throw on over a swimsuit when going to the beach, and are super comfortable for lounging or running errands. They are a bit dressier than regular shorts, so they’d be appropriate when you want to be comfortable but need something a little bit more “put together” looking. They are a fun addition to your wardrobe, and can easily transition into autumn and early winter, depending upon the length, and the fabric you choose. The new Phee Fabrics Ribbed Knit, French Terry, and even Supplex would be fun fabrics to try.

*This post may contain affiliate links. This means that at no extra cost to you, I may receive a small commission if you purchase through my links. As always, I only give my honest opinion. After all, it is my blog, which represents me! Thank you for reading and sharing my love of sewing, patterns, fabric, and playing with patterns. 😉