Stitch Upon A Time – Sew Beach Life

Spellbound By A Summer Dress

A Bra, A Dress, And A Hack To Make A Workout Top

I’m pretty discerning when it comes to pattern testing, and only test when a pattern looks like something that would get a lot of wear. When I saw the tester call for the Stitch Upon A Time Spellbound Bra and Dress, I applied right away. That criss cross back is exactly what I’ve been looking for!

When you’re a bit busty, you’ve got to love a pattern that has cup sizes. Seriously! There don’t seem to be many designers in the .pdf (or paper) pattern world that include multiple cup sizes. Including cup sizes makes a pattern fit so much better. The Spellbound includes sizes XXS to 6X, along with cup sizes A-G (determined by the difference between your full bust and upper bust). Per the measurement chart, I made a size small D cup. The size chart on this is spot on, and did not require any grading. The strap lengths were perfect (which seems amazing to me because obviously there is a lot of math involved to get all five strap pieces the proper length for each size).

Although it is a shelf bra and relies upon compression, I feel quite comfortable with the amount of support. If you wanted to, I suppose you could add bra cups during construction, but I don’t feel the need to do so. This is coming from a girl whose regular bras have underwires, so that is saying something!

There are usually changes and updates during testing, which is kind of the point. A designer wants to ensure a great fit on real bodies in a wide range of body shapes and sizes. A higher neckline option was added for anyone that prefers a little more coverage. Another tester and I commented that we wanted to hack the bra into a dress, and Kelly (the designer) made that happen!

Why does it always seem to be windy when I try to take photos of a new make?

Having this bra pattern turn into dress just makes me so happy! I love, love, love it! The half circle skirt is swishy, but not too full. It’s super easy to get dressed for the day when you can wear a dress with a built-in bra. The knee-length option hits in just the right place, even on a taller girl like me.

I know some people get frustrated when trying to hem a knit skirt with a curved hem, but here’s my not-so-secret tip to make it easy: serge around the raw hem of the skirt with a 4 thread overlock with a stitch width of M, stitch length of 2, and up the differential to 1.5. This will slightly gather the hem, curling it up, which helps it to lay flat to hem. Then I like to pin up a 5/8″ hem and coverstitch it. It turns out perfect every time. Make sure to follow up with a nice press for a professional finish.

The criss-cross straps show just enough skin to look and feel sexy. Combined with the supportive front, it’s definitely a confidence boosting look for me.

Obviously one dress wasn’t enough for me, 😉 so I’ve already made two. I’m contemplating over what fabric I should try next. The turquoise dress is a nylon spandex tricot (swim) fabric. The purple dress is a nylon spandex circular knit. Both fabrics were purchased from Phee Fabrics a while back, so I don’t know if these particular colors are still in stock. It’s important to use fabric with good stretch and recovery (rebound factor) so that the bra fits well and stays somewhat firmly against the body. If you have a larger cup size, I also recommend using powernet. Though it is optional, I like the extra bust support it provides.

No matter how far forward I lean, I still feel supported.

I can wear my dresses to walk the beach, or go to the grocery store, or out to dinner. (If it’s at a restaurant that has gluten and dairy free food that’s safe for me to eat!) which is quite the challenge for me. My journey of food allergies deserve a discussion of their own on Sew Beach Life, and will probably be my next post.

The Spellbound Bra and Dress is flattering whether I’m sitting or standing. Even on a windy day! 🙂 There is a peplum top cut line on the skirt that will turn the bra into a cute, casual top. But I go to yoga class four days a week, and a flowy top isn’t practical for forward folds and headstands! 🙂

If you follow my page, you know that I can never leave a pattern well enough alone. Especially a pattern that I love as much as this one! So I had to turn this bra into a workout top. I mashed it with the Versa Cami and came up with something fun.

I wanted the front to be one piece, without a seam between the bra and body of the top. The back of course, has to have a seam.

To get the front pattern piece, I lined up the front of the Spellbound at the lining cut line with the front of the Versa Cami at the shorten or lengthen here line on the pattern piece. Once I traced down to the bottom of the bra front piece, I started grading out for my hips. My grading went from small to large, and I removed one inch from the small length and large width at the hemline.

To get the back pattern piece, I started at the shorten or lengthen here line on the Versa Cami, and graded out for my hips. Originally, I just went straight across and cut on the shorten/lengthen line. But after sewing it up, I realized that the straight line gave me too much fabric at center back, and didn’t show the same amount of skin that the dresses show in that area. So I refined the pattern piece and used the curve from hem of the Spellbound skirt at the top of my back piece. In hindsight, I’ll probably just use the top curve of the skirt for the top curve of my top on the next one. My grading went from small to large, and I used the small length and large width at the hemline. You may be wondering why I shortened the front piece an inch but not the back. Two reasons: I like my workout tops to hit at hip level (the Versa is a bit longer than that); and because the back has a 1/2″ seam whereas the front doesn’t.

The pattern pieces I created to hack the bra into a workout top.

As always, I don’t show full pattern pieces out of respect for the designers hard work in creating a pattern. But I am showing enough for you to see the smooth curves of my grading. The front pattern piece is on the left, and the back pattern piece is on the right. A French curve ruler is a very helpful tool for grading and adjusting pattern pieces.

I wear my workout top to skate around the neighborhood as well as to yoga class.

The top is sewn together by following the tutorial for the Spellbound bra up to the point of hemming, except for one thing. When sewing the bra front (turned into a workout top) piece to the bra side piece, don’t sew all the way to the bottom of the side piece. Stop 1/2″ from the bottom to leave yourself fabric for the back seam. Then snip to but not through the stitching line. This will allow you to press the seam toward the back and top or coverstitch as per the tutorial. You’ll sew the bra lining front and side pieces together as per normal.

I changed the construction of the Spellbound bra lining piece a tiny bit to suit my preferences. I am longer than average from shoulder to bust point and needed to add 5/8″ in order for the elastic to land in the perfect spot under my bust. Although a higher cut line was added to the pattern, my unique body shape requires the elastic lower because I needed the entire bra to slide up, not just add height at the front. This is a common alteration I have to make on a lot of tops and dresses, not just this specific pattern. Just one more reason that I sew- I can make clothing that fits my body. Because I don’t like elastic touching my bare skin, I added another inch so that I could flip the elastic up and have fabric against my skin.

I cut my powernet at the original lining and powernet cut line and the bra main fabric is cut at the original bra cut line. The bra lining is the only piece that I lengthen.

As per the tutorial I basted the powernet to the wrong side of the lining piece. Here’s where I go rogue from the pattern tutorial: I serge the elastic to the wrong side of the lining, then flip it up to fully encase the elastic. Use plenty of pins to hold the elastic in place and coverstitch.

Notice how the serged elastic overlaps the bottom of the basted-in-place powernet?

After top or coverstitching the edge of the elastic in place, remove the basting stitches along the bottom of the powernet. I purposely don’t lengthen the powernet to the same length as the lining because I don’t want the bulk and stiffness of the powernet in the enclosed elastic. It just needs to be long enough to get caught in the topstitching.

My other tip involves the straps. Once you’ve threaded the elastic through the straps, zig zag both ends of the straps to ensure that the elastic stays aligned with the ends of the straps.

You’ll notice how helpful the zig zag basting is when you are pulling the top straps through the bra, and when you’re criss-crossing, pinning, and stitching all the straps at the back.

Here’s how the straps on the workout top hack look once they’re stitched in place.

There are a couple of things to notice in the photo above. First is the clean finish of the enclosed elastic on the liner if you choose to go rogue like I do. The second item of note is the snip on the side seam that will allow the back bottom piece I made be stitched in place.

I add 3/8″ knit elastic along the top of the back workout top or skirt piece. I don’t take the elastic all the way to the side seams, because I don’t want bulky seams. It’s just there to give a little stability to the top of the back of the skirt or workout top bottom back piece. Once the seam connecting the bra to the skirt or workout top back bottom is complete, I fold the elastic down, pin it in place and coverstitch it.

Coverstitching is probably trickier than topstitching in this small area, but I’m so used to working with my machine (I coverstitch *a lot*) that it isn’t a big deal to me. Either method works and will give nice results.

After that it’s just pinning and stitching the bottom half of the side seam and hemming your new top! You can wear it to the gym, to yoga class, or to skate around your neighborhood.

Even though I skate on a somewhat regular basis, it’s hard to keep from rolling when you’re trying to get photos on the slope of a bridge!

In case you’re wondering what capri length leggings I’m wearing, they are the Stitch Upon A Time Legend Leggings, posted about here. They’re getting a little too big, but I still like them. I should take them apart and make them in a smaller size.

Trying to get nice photos on the beach on a super windy day when it’s not even 60 degrees F makes for some interesting shots!

Luckily the next day was warmer and I got to go for a little skate around the neighborhood.

Whether you make the Spellbound bra, peplum top, or dress version, or play around with my idea of a Versa Cami hack, I’m pretty certain that you are going to love this pattern as much as I do!

Thank you for reading and sharing my love of creating, sewing, serging, great patterns, pattern hacking, 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!

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! ❤

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! ❤

Frolic Dress Fun All Summer Long

Tips for adding support and sewing the binding

Summer clothes are so much more fun than winter clothes. They’re light and comfortable, and tend to be more colorful. Swishy sundresses that you can throw on and head out the door are a great summer look.

The new Frolic Romper and Dress by Stitch Upon A Time is perfect for summer breezes. The wrap around skirt is full and swishy, and the top can have a halter tie or cross back straps. Mine started out as a halter top, which I thought was really cute.

The open back of the halter, is certainly sexy (so says my husband!)

But after wearing it a while, the weight of my bust pulled on my neck too much, so I turned it into a cross back.

I think it’s just as sexy, and it’s certainly more comfortable for my neck. The wrap skirt is perfect for skimming over the belly, without being tight or revealing.

It’s such a fun look, I can’t help but smile!

I thought it would be fun to climb up on the railing for a photo, to show the slit of the wrap around skirt. Try not to laugh at my version of a “sexy pose”. Hahahahahaha! Of course after climbing up on the railing, I had to jump down, in a perhaps not quite so lady-like fashion. 🙂

As you can see, it overlaps pretty far in the front, so there won’t be any wardrobe malfunctions!

I love the drape of high quality rayon spandex, it’s perfect for dresses. As I am not small-chested, I decided to use a nylon spandex tricot swim fabric as the inner layer on the bodice. The stronger rebound of the swim fabric gave me extra support and coverage. During testing, it was suggested to add elastic at the bottom of the bodice, sandwiched between the inner and outer layers for more support. Since I need maximum support, I used 1″ knit elastic.

To help keep the elastic in place (and give myself a guide for sewing the skirt on), I basted the main and lining layers wrong sides together, 1″ from the bottom edge of the bodice. I cut the elastic to fit snugly, yet comfortably under my bust, overlapped 1/2″, and zig-zagged the elastic to form a loop. Then I slid the elastic in between the fabric layers, and pinned at the quarter points.

I added more pins to ensure that the elastic would be evenly stretched before serging along the bottom edge.

After I serged the elastic around the bottom, it was time to add the binding. Since this is a summer dress, I wanted a fun pop of color for the binding, and decided to use the same teal nylon spandex tricot as I did for the bodice lining layer. To give my bust even more support, I added clear elastic when serging the binding to the bodice.

I always serge along the unfinished edge of binding before adding it to my garments. It adds extra stability when you wrap the binding and top or coverstitch it.

Then I pressed the binding up toward the seam allowance, wrapped it around the inside and pinned it in place. Then it was time to coverstitch.

You might think I use too many pins, but, I like everything to stay perfectly in place so I can do a good job of coverstitching the first time, and not have to spend any time seam ripping!

Next came gathering the skirt. Have I mentioned that I dislike gathering? I like the look when it’s done well, but it is so time consuming to gather and pin in place! This is where that basting line above the elastic came in handy. The skirt got pinned to the bodice, right sides together, leaving the (encased) elastic below. Because I wanted to ensure that the skirt was even, I hand-basted the skirt to the bodice. Can I just mention how very grateful I am to live in this era of fancy sewing machines, sergers, and coverstitch machines? I cannot imagine how long it used to take to sew all your clothing by hand.

The hand-basting paid off with pretty perfect gathers!

While I love the result, it was a bit time consuming to sew the skirt to the bodice above the elastic, rather than just serging it on. The next time I make this dress, I plan to add an inch to the bodice lining so that I can serge the 1″ elastic on, flip it up and coverstitch it. Then I’d take an inch off the main fabric bodice so that the skirt could just be serged to the outer bodice (and still line up with the bodice lining). It’s important that the seam line falls right under the bust to give the most flattering shaping.

Suffice it to say that I love this dress! It’s comfortable and flattering, while hiding my love of buttered popcorn! 🙂 It’s going to get worn all summer long. Ok, did anybody else just start singing?

The details: the Frolic Romper and Dress, along with all their other patterns and fabric are available at Stitch Upon A Time.

Technically, the cross back straps should have gone through loops, and then just tied in a bow. But I am long from shoulder to bust, and the straps didn’t seem quite long enough for a bow. And well, I like things clean and simple. So I just sewed them into place. It works for me!

I purchased the rayon spandex and nylon spandex tricot from Phee Fabrics.

The links to Stitch Upon A Time are affiliate links, which 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! ❤

Are You Ready For A Treasure Hunt?

The Stitch Upon A Time Treasure Hunt Skirt, Options, Sewing Tips, And Upcycling!

I went on a treasure hunt as soon as I was notified that I was chosen to be a pattern tester for the Treasure Hunt Skirt. My husband has recently commented that I don’t really need to make myself anymore clothes, since my closet is pretty full. Well! OK, it may actually be pretty full, but it’s too full of ready to wear clothes that I rarely wear, and not full enough of comfortable, well-fitting clothes that I’ve made myself! So, it was off to treasure hunting!

Throwing away clothes that you don’t like, or that no longer fit is wasteful. I’ve donated many bags of clothes over the years, but I thought it would be more fun to upcycle a few things. The Stitch Upon A Time Treasure Hunt Skirt has SO many options! There’s a pencil skirt with or without a flounce, a hi-low pencil skirt with flounce, an A-line skirt, a hi-low A-line, and a pleated skirt! There are maternity options as well. So, where to start? I thought the hi-low pencil skirt with flounce sounded fun (and sexy), so that was my first make.

I upcycled an old swing dress that had a pretty print, but never got worn because the polyester spandex “scuba” fabric was a little too stiff to drape nicely as a dress. It may not have been flattering as a dress, but wow! It sure made for a fun skirt!

My husband’s reaction to this skirt? “Whoa baby, that looks **good**!” 🙂

The skirt is figure hugging, but not tight, the hi-low flounce adds a little bit of sexy sass, and is husband approved! 😉

The shaping over the booty is just right.

It makes me feel fancy, and looks great with heels. The hi-low hem is made a bit subtle with the fun flounce. As with most flounces, it’s basically a little circle skirt. You might dread hemming circle skirts, and I guess if your fabric doesn’t fray or curl, you could leave it unhemmed. But that is not how I roll. I like nice finishes, and the quality look you get from a nice hem. Here’s how I make it easy. I serge along the bottom hem of a circle skirt with the fabric right side up, using a 4 thread overlock, with a stitch width of M, a stitch length of 2 to 2.25, and the differential up to 1.3 or 1.5. This slightly “gathers” the edge so that when you turn it under there isn’t any excess fabric to cause lumps or folds in the fabric. I always use plenty of pins and my hem gauge to get perfectly even pretty hems.

You can see the inside of the pretty hem in this stance.

Since this upcycled fabric didn’t have as much recovery as I would have liked, and because I was working with limited fabric, I used a scrap from my stash for the waistband. Although the scrap matched quite well, it had a tendency to curl, badly. Ugh! I also wanted to ensure that if my granddaughter pulled on my skirt while playing, that she didn’t pull it down! So I decided to add elastic to my waistband.

To test my elastic length, I wrapped it around my low waist where the waistband would end up, and pulled it comfortably snug. This means that it felt tight enough to stay up, but not so tight that it gave me a “muffin top”. I made sure to exercise my elastic before testing the length (stretching it out 10-15 times). The length worked out to be 1-1/2″ to 2″ shorter than the suggested waistband length. Different brands and types of elastic have more or less stretch, so I always like trying the elastic on my body before sewing it into my garment. I overlapped the elastic by 1/2″ or so, and zigzagged all around the overlap. I also cut my waistband 1-1/2″ shorter so that the elastic and band would be the same length.

Having the curling fabric and elastic all perfectly aligned with a basting zigzag made is so much easier when I serged the waistband onto the skirt.

Then I folded the waistband over the elastic and ran a wide zigzag (length 2.5, width 3.0) along the raw edge of the waistband. I made sure that the elastic was 1/4″ inside the edge of the fabric so that it would be caught in the zigzag, but not cut when the waistband was serged on the skirt. This gave me a perfectly fitting waistband that will keep my skirt from being pulled down while playing with a rambuctious 3 year old!

With all the options the Treasure Hunt Skirt offers, I thought it would be fun to try a different style. Since the hi-low speaks to me, the A-line hi-low was it. I found an old maxi skirt in my closet and it had enough fabric to make my skirt and a cute top for my granddaughter. The polyester spandex ITY made such a fun, swishy skirt!

The A-line is full enough to flow and drape nicely over the body.

I made a slight change to the waistband on this skirt, by adding 2″ to the height. This made it 1″ taller than the original band. I played with a french tuck to show off the waistband.

Do I look like a flamingo in this pose? The fabric kind of makes me think of a Lilly Pulitzer flamingo print!

From the back the skirt just looks like a simple A-line.

But from the side you can really see the pretty hi-low effect.

Even though it’s a flowy skirt, the hi-low gives it a little bit of a sexy look.

I loved the look so much, that the next day, I made another hi-low A-line skirt. It was another upcycle, this time out of a jersey knit.

I love that the hi-low is shorter in front, but not **too** short.

I wasn’t sure that I’d like the jersey knit as much as the drapey ITY, but honestly, this might be my favorite skirt!

The cut of this skirt just gives such a pretty drape!

It seriously looks good from every angle!

It sure makes me feel pretty! And isn’t a pattern that flatters your body and makes you feel pretty a treasure in and of itself?

Are you ready to go on a treasure hunt and make yourself a new Treasure Hunt Skirt? It’s such a quick, yet satisfying sew! And with all the options available in one pattern, you can make yourself a variety of fun, comfortable skirts.

The details: These are affiliate links to the Stitch Upon A Time site and the Treasure Hunt Skirt. 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! 🙂

The white top is a Titania Tunic tied in a knot. It’s my favorite way to wear this top! It also looks good with my Legend Leggings blogged here.

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

Jackets For The Girls

The Stitch Upon A Time Gnome Jacket

Colder weather moved into Tennessee, and my granddaughters needed jackets. Sewing a jacket just sounds so overwhelming, doesn’t it? Especially if the the jackets are reversible, and require reversible separating zippers! 😮 But Grandma love prevails, so it was time to get sewing!

For some reason, zippers seem to intimidate me. It’s silly really, because as a teenager I made a pants suit with a bomber style jacket and both pieces had zippers. (I recall that my mother saved that jacket for years after I quit wearing it, probably because she was just so impressed that I made it. 🙂 )

Let me put your mind to rest now, installing the zipper in the Stitch Upon A Time Gnome Jacket is no big deal. The tutorial is well written, and the directions are easy to follow. Seriously, the only challenging part was shortening the zippers. And that’s only because I purchased super heavy duty brass zippers and my husband had to help me remove the teeth by cutting them off with nippers! 😉 Plastic coil zippers would have been easier, but I love the sturdiness and bold look of the brass zippers!

Can you tell Lila loves playing with vehicles of all kinds? 🙂

The Gnome Jacket calls for woven fabric, and JoAnn Fabrics happened to have some quilting cotton and beautiful batiks on sale. I wanted the girls jackets to match, so the main sides were made with a swirl pattern quilting cotton. I personalized the lining side with pretty batiks in complementing colors. Lila likes purple and turquoise, and blues really bring out her eyes, so this “salt dye” batik was perfect for her.

When looking through some photos from a few years ago, I noticed how nice green looked on my son-in-law. So I figured a green would really flatter Zoey’s darker coloring. The green and turquoise circle print batik was a perfect choice for the lining of her jacket.

(Before anyone becomes concerned, Mama just sat her in the swing for a quick photo. She is ALWAYS strapped in when she’s actually swinging.)

Construction of the jackets really is easy. Honestly, the fancy gathered, completely finished pockets were the most time-consuming part! 🙂 I like finished pockets, especially on wovens, because you never have to worry about the fabric unraveling. The pockets are just as smooth and pretty on the inside as they are on the outside.

Doesn’t the zipper guard give the jacket a nice couture finished look? It also keeps the zipper from rubbing against the sensitive skin at the neck.

I made life easier by using simple rectangular pockets on the lining side of the jackets. Because of course little ones need pockets, no matter which way they wear their jackets! Where else are you going to store your snacks, random pebbles, and whatever other treasures you find?

The jackets got a little crumpled during shipping, and what Mama with two little ones, including a VERY active 3 year old dares get out a hot iron and ironing board?

The jacket has a plain back or a gathered two-piece flared back option. The gathered back is a sweet feminine touch, and only takes a few minutes longer. It’s worth the extra time for the extra girly touch!

Mama got in a little walk by pushing the girls to the playground.

The girls got plenty of play time at the playground. Climbing, perching, sliding, swinging and playing outside are always fun.

Look at that big girl sitting up by herself!

They headed over to the swings, where lots of giggling commenced! Lila was so excited to push Zoey on the swing. Zoey loved her very first time playing on the swings.

The Stitch Upon A Time Gnome Jackets are well worth the sew! The foldover cuff option gives a little extra “grow” room, so hopefully they’ll be able to wear them for quite a while. I am super happy with the outcome, and have already made (actually hacked to personalize!) another one for Lila. So you can tell I really like the pattern. 🙂

No matter how rough and tumble the play, or how wild the child 😉 my girls are wearing the cutest jackets at the playground!

The details:

Kid’s Gnome Jacket by Stitch Upon A Time (it doesn’t cost you anything extra to use my affiliate link, but I may earn a few pennies to buy more patterns! 😉 )

Quilting cotton and batik fabrics from JoAnn Fabrics

Reversible separating zippers from Wawak. Don’t forget to order zipper stops in the coordinating coil size if you use metal zippers!

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 things for my granddaughters! ❤

Stitch Upon A Time Legend Leggings

When you go to yoga class four days a week, you need a lot of workout wear! I am super picky about workout wear because if it’s not comfortable, breathable, and able to stretch with me, it’s not getting worn.

Making leggings that work as hard as you do can be a challenge. Some patterns are meant to look cute as lounge or daily wear, but don’t really work for exercise. And obviously fabric choice plays a part in this. But the new Legend Leggings from Stitch Upon A Time meet my workout challenge, even after a sweaty Ashtanga Yoga class!

The waistband didn’t roll or give me a “muffin top”. I even wore a Titania Tunic tied up on the side, exposing my belly, which is definitely not the norm for the 50+ year old crowd! That’s how confident I feel in my new leggings!

I played around while doing photos and actually managed to get a few seconds of air time (while flashing my belly, gasp!) on a public beach. Hahahahahaha! Obviously I was never a gymnast or cheerleader, but I have built some decent upper body strength after doing yoga for nearly 18 years. 😉

The inseam free Legends can be shorts, capri, or full length. They can be solid or have stripes that curve to accent the booty.

You can keep it simple and let your fabric be the focal point, or go crazy and cover-stitch to accent all the seams. The waistband can be low or high, but being a rebel (which is so unlike me) I went halfway between for a mid-height.

I love leggings that give me flexibility in fit and style. I had no problems with them riding up or down, no matter how many forward folds, stretches, or holds.

I love leggings that are comfortable and versatile, that you can wear to lounge about or workout. Here is how I personalized them to suit me:

I am tall, so I added 1″ to the capri length. As mentioned, I cut halfway between the low and high rise for my perfect waistband height. To give the front waistband more tummy smoothing power (I like cookies, okay?) I added powernet to half of the waistband. (Cutting the powernet to fit the entire folded over waistband would give even more holding power.) The powernet was basted to the front waistband, then the front and back waistbands were sewn together as per the tutorial. I recommend cover-stitching the side seams or stitching in the ditch with a sewing machine to keep the side seams aligned if you add powernet. I also gave myself a little more booty room by cutting along the Medium inner back crotch curve line, while cutting everything else on my measured size Large cut line.

It was a great way to give a little more room for “the junk in the trunk”, especially since I like using highly compressive fabric for leggings. Keep in mind that if you have a similar booty/body shape, that you will need to stretch the back waistband a little bit, while easing in the body of the leggings. If you’ve ever had pants that fit nicely over your booty, but gapped at the back waist, this solves that problem.

The details: I used three different colors of Supplex from Phee Fabrics for this fun striped look. The reverse triple cover-stitching was done using a variegated thread in the looper. I just love the fun look you get from variegated thread, especially when working with solid color fabrics. And yes, I will definitely make another pair (or three!) of Legend Leggings. I think it would be a fun look to use powernet as the outer stripe. Kind of sexy and kind of fun, what can I say?!

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)?

Spot On With Spoxxy

I’ve been guilty of buying a pattern, but not printing and sewing it right away on more than one occasion. Silly, I know! The racerback look is popular, cute, and probably why I hesitated on sewing one up. I’m not a fan of my bra straps showing, strapless bras aren’t really comfortable, and I don’t own a well fitting racerback bra. That sounds so silly, especially when you consider how many Brazi’s I’ve made. But here’s the thing- all the Brazi’s I make for myself have been hacked to have straight straps because I don’t like straps near my neck. My daughter likes the cross back Brazi, and tracing the pattern in her new postpartum and nursing size is on my agenda for today. Anyhow, the Spoxxy sat unprinted in my computer for a few months.

Then I saw someone post a Spoxxy made as a nightgown on the Stitch Upon A Time Facebook page, and quickly decided to make myself one! Who doesn’t need some new nightgowns after a few months of social distancing at home? Not that I lived in nightgowns, hahahahahahaha! 😉 Who am I kidding? I put on shorts and a tank top to go for walks and thoroughly enjoyed being comfortable in a nightie the rest of the day.

Since this was “just going to be a nightie”, I used some lightweight rayon spandex that I found at an estate sale. And of course I end up loving the look and want to just keep it as a dress!

Look at that grin on my face- I couldn’t stop smiling because it’s just such a cute, comfortable pattern. The racerback fits well, and the bands don’t bunch up where the upper back meets the gathered body. Which is a problem I have seen on similar styled patterns by other designers. I thinks it’s the angle of the cut?

The smooth curve of the racerback, the gathering at the back, and the over all shaping of the dress is quite flattering. The pattern calls for a band at the hip for the top version, and elastic at the waist for the dress version. I contemplated adding the waist elastic, but since the shaping hits perfectly at the natural waist and flares out to skim the hips, I didn’t see the need.

After I sent my daughter a photo of my dress, she commented that she needs some comfortable dresses that she can nurse in. So Mama dug through her stash and found bits of charcoal and gray rayon spandex that were just big enough to piece together a color-blocked version for her. Due to fabric constraints, I had to add a seam to the bottom section center back, but it’s still quite wearable and fun. I don’t have any modeled photos of her yet, since it takes a while for packages to get to another state.

Obviously, I need to make myself a few more Spoxxy dresses and/or nightgowns because the fit is just so spot on! Using a more substantial weight of rayon spandex (rather than the flimsy estate sale stuff I started with) will make it even better with improved drape and recovery.

So, the next time you notice an unused pattern sitting in your computer, print it out, and sew it up! Or give the Spoxxy a try, and see if you end up with a happy smile like me!

Use Every Scrap Of Fabric

Including A Selvage Design Feature

Sewing for children can be fun, because their smaller size generally means quicker sewing. And you can be super bold in color and try fun things on kids clothes that you may be a bit hesitant to try on an adult size! After making myself a beautiful Designer Stitch Madison Dress, I had some scraps of Ponte left over. They weren’t large enough to make an adult clothing item, but there was just enough to squeeze out a dress and leggings for my granddaughter.

The striped Ponte was quite stretchy, so it was perfect for leggings. I’ve tried several baby leggings patterns, and have been happy with most of them. Since Lila is growing quickly, it seemed time to make the jump from a baby pattern to a girl pattern. The 5oo4 Patterns Little Ninja Leggings (which is a free pattern) worked very well, and came up high enough in the back to properly cover her bum. I dislike super low rise leggings, and was very happy with the fit of the Little Ninjas. They definitely give full range of motion, as Lila was easily able to climb in and out of the box “fort” that Grandpa made for her! 🙂

The green Ponte was a super soft rayon blend, and had such a pretty fringed selvage that I just had to use it for something! I found it at Pennie Fabrics in Sarasota, Florida. It’s an interesting independent fabric store, is a bit of a maze, and is not organized into fabric types at all. But if you’re willing to wander through and feel all the rolls of fabric, you could come up with something unique that you love. The green Ponte was imported from Italy, and you could feel the softness and quality. It was therefore, rather expensive, so I wanted to put every square inch to good use!

The Stitch Upon A Time Wendybird Dress was a great choice for this project. The simple lines of the round neck, plain front version, with hemmed sleeves let the focus be on the fabric. To add an extra pop of color, I cut a strip an inch and a half wide out of the striped fabric to use as piping between the bodice and skirt. After folding the strip in half, right sides out, I basted it to the bottom of the front and back of the bodice.

Then I stitched the dress together as per the pattern tutorial. (Although the photo distorted and makes the fabric look ribbed, it’s actually very smooth.) I cut along both edges of the green Ponte to get 1-1/4″ wide strips of selvage to trim the hem. After stitching the selvage to the hem of the dress, I pressed the seam allowance up towards the skirt, and zigzagged it in place.

I absolutely love the finished look! It’s super fun, totally unique, and a great way to use what would otherwise be scraps.

Obviously Lila loves it too, judging by her smile. 😉

I’m glad I made a larger size so that she’ll be able to wear this outfit all next winter too. If you’re looking to personalize your makes, take a look at the selvage, and don’t be afraid to use every last scrap!