scoop top free pattern and tutorial

April 26, 2013June 1, 201465 Comments

As a part of my guest blogging gig for Britex Fabrics, they recently sent some of their new knit fabric to try out! I was really excited to see that Britex is now offering knit fabric online, and for this project I picked out a super cool Japanese tissue knit with scribbles all over it. I thought it’d be a great fabric to turn into a simple tee using my favorite J.Crew shirt as a launch point, with plenty of my own modifications to get the perfect fit.

And because I want to share the love of my new favorite shirt all over blogland, I thought I’d offer a FREE PATTERN along with my tutorial today!

scoop top pattern & tutorial

I’m calling it the Scoop Top. It’s a scoop neck women’s t-shirt with a french/dolman sleeve. It’s fitted through the bust but then flares out a bit, giving it a really flattering and comfortable fit. I’m offering this free pattern in a size small/medium (since it’s knit, it’s pretty forgiving, size-wise).

PATTERN

Download the FREE Scoop Top Pattern

Please note: This pattern is untested (except by me) and it is offered in only one size. It’s also the first time I’ve ever digitized a pattern, so please don’t expect perfection! I’m happy to answer questions about it if you ask nicely. This pattern is for personal use only. I reserve the right to refine, grade it to different sizes, and charge for it it sometime in the future. In the meantime, Go To Patterns’ Casual Lady (affiliate link) has a similar fit in a full range of sizes and proceeds go to a great cause.

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flocking bird silk shirt with sleeve tutorial

January 28, 2013June 1, 201441 Comments

My next post as a member of the Britex Fabrics Guest Blogger Team is up today over on the Britex Blog, and I’m sewing with SILK! This gorgeous navy and ivory flocking bird print was completely irresistible to me, and I was so excited to make a beautiful flowy top out of it for my sister Laura. I’ve never sewn with silk before so this was quite a challenge – I had a lot of research to do before I started. The result is completely worth the extra effort I think!

I started with one of my favorite adult patterns, the Wiksten Tank. As I’ve done before, I decided to add three quarter sleeves, which gives the shirt a bit more substance and slightly more formal look, while maintaining the ease of the pattern.

Today I’ll show you my method for adding the sleeves.

First of all, if you’re working with silk, here are a few general tips I picked up. You’ll want to sew with silk or cotton thread, using a microtex sharp needle, so make sure you have those. Next, you’ll need to reflect all of your pattern pieces so you’re not cutting on the fold, but just a single layer of silk.

When you’re ready to cut, head over to my fellow Britex Guest Blogger Jen from Grainline Studio’s tutorial for cutting silk. It worked amazingly well! I cut between two layers of Swedish tracing paper with a rotary cutter and it was a frustration-free experience.

Now, to create the sleeve pattern.

1. Lay your pattern on the right side of your tracing paper and trace around the armhole curve

2. Lay your ruler down at a 90 degree angle to the pattern grain, mark a line as far as you’d like the sleeve (use another shirt of yours for length reference)

3. This is what your pattern will look like so far

4. I added a little extra loft to the shoulder curve to give myself room for a puff sleeve and to add a seam allowance. Draw a slight S to finish the arm curve, then draw a slanted line to the same length as your top line, connecting them with a vertical line (the lighter curve is my original tracing, darker line is my final pattern)

If you’ll be cutting silk, trace out your sleeve again with plenty of room to reflect the pattern so it’s just one piece. If making this out of cotton, you can just use the pattern on the fold. Cut notches where indicated to guide gathers (on your silk, mark these with chalk).

Sew two rows of gathering stitches between your markings, then sew the long sleeve seams together. I chose to serge each side of the seam allowance and press them open, as I thought french seams might be too bulky. Set each sleeve in, gathering what’s needed to match the armhole opening and sewing inside the tube. I then serged the seam allowances together to finish the armhole.

Finish the tank per pattern instructions – for the silk, I used a baby hem and navy cotton batiste bias tape to finish the neckline. You can either choose to hem the sleeve with a baby hem, or a wider one and thread some elastic through to hold it at your elbow.

Enjoy your pretty new silk (or voile, or batiste, or vintage sheet, or rayon) shirt! Thanks for modeling, Laura!!

Head over to the Britex Blog to see my post and leave some love over there if you’d like, and while you’re there be sure to peruse their sale section. The drape and beauty of this silk just can’t be beat (it goes on sale Feb 1).

**Britex Fabrics is a sponsor of this blog and graciously provided the fabric for this project.**

essex linen sidekick tote

January 9, 2013January 8, 201330 Comments

my buddy Jessica made me an awesome pillow for my birthday, and then her birthday was at the end of December so it was only right that i make her something in return! i actually considered asking her husband for her measurements and surprising her with a washi dress, but i figured that was just a taaaaad risky.

so i made her a purse instead.

it’s the Nooodlehead sidekick tote. Anna is the queen of the amazing bag pattern, and i always love how interesting and unique her designs are (my purse creativity is pretty non-existent). i’d been wanting to sew it for a long time now, so this was my proverbial kick in the pants. it’s a really great pattern and the details are perfect! i made the large size, since Jessica’s got a couple munchkins to haul stuff around for.

Gail and Anna have both sewn it in a yarn dyed black essex linen, so i just went with what i knew worked for the outside (it’s from Bolt). plus i know it’s one of Jessica’s favorite fabrics and she’d probably enjoy carrying it around / petting it. we nerd out about fabric a lot in our friendship. doesn’t everyone?

the pocket is bound with the seersucker i’ve used a few times so far, most notably on little red.

and the lining is sort of another bit of silliness – i always say kona olive goes with everything, and so…i used it, mostly to make Jessica snicker. but also, it REALLY DOES go with everything.

the zipper is magenta (a little brighter than reality in this photo) and the interior pocket is an anna maria horner loulouthi print from Jess.

there’s a good amount of interfacing (i used Pellon SF101 as recommended) giving the sidekick a nice structure. i definitely tried harder to keep my stitching neat and crisp too, since this would be the first in-person example of my sewing she’d see and i didn’t want her to think i was a total hack face.

my giant vintage coat collar and i were ready to make off with it / keep it…but i didn’t. i stuffed it with fat quarters and washi tape magnets and other trinkets and shipped it off to Ohio like a good crafty friend should.

HBD, Jessica!

blank slates and teacher gifts

January 7, 2013January 7, 201312 Comments

two things today.

first, i wanted to formally welcome my newest sponsor, Blank Slate Patterns! creator Melissa’s patterns first caught my eye when Sophie sewed this awesome piped chevron version of her basic blazer (major wow factor!). i also sewed her blazer pattern for Fantastic Mr. Fox, and currently have a second one cut out and ready to go (super excited about it, too). i was under a bit of a time crunch to get that film petit out and just blazed through the pattern without thinking much, so this time i’m going more slowly and really enjoying it!

Melissa’s full pattern lineup includes great boy basics like trousers, collared shirts, and t-shirts as well as beautiful dresses for the little gals with great classic style. her designs are clean “staple” type patterns, so they lend themselves nicely to customization through fabric selection and your own extra special details. she even has a couple of bag patterns for grown ups! check it all out at Blank Slate Patterns!

item number two is teacher gifts that i never posted about (see what i did there? blank slate? chalkboard? teacher gifts? anyway…). Em has a really great teacher and a wonderfully musical teacher’s assistant – she loves school and is learning TONS from these two ladies, which is so fun to see. i made gifts for both, of course!

for her main teacher, a “notebook paper tote.”

inspired by buzzmills, i thought it was pretty clever to make a bag for a teacher look like a lined piece of paper. i used the triple stitch function on my machine to add a red line up the side of some blue and white seersucker. the handle is blue chambray. i just made up the pattern as i went.

the bottom is boxed, there’s a pocket on the inside, and it’s lined with…cursive print!! i bought it off Anna in a stash-reduction sale and i think it was PERFECT for a teacher. it probably borders on TOO on the nose, but i think it stays on the side of playful rather than groan-worthy…hopefully.

i also threw in a coffee cozy. it’s reversible and i’m thinking about a tutorial, if anyone’s interested.

for the aide, i finally got off my duff and made one of Anna’s open wide pouches which i’d wanted to make forever, in a joel dewberry print with seersucker lining and magenta zipper. super fun tutorial, though i only had short zippers and had to make this one pretty small which made the boxed bottom trickier to maneuver.

she got a coffee cozy too.

have a happy monday!

commuter cowl review and giveaway!

December 4, 2012January 7, 201343 Comments

i’m the next stop in A Very Go To Christmas blog tour! Andrea is building a pretty great shop over there at Go To Patterns, and it keeps getting better the more designers she brings on! you should definitely go check it out, and check back often because i think the first time i ever looked she had, like, 3 patterns in there and she’s now up to nearly 70! lots of basics, lots of fun stuff, lots of options.

the pattern from the shop that i chose to review is the commuter cowl, designed by shannon of luvinthemommyhood! i remember loving this pattern when it first came out but never pulled the trigger and got it. i was excited to sew it now, especially after making her sweetheart dress and having such a good time with it.

every time i saw this cowl pop up, i tried to figure out how it was made. it SEEMED super simple, but i still had no idea what was going on with the split and the twist and for the life of me couldn’t figure out how to make it myself. a pattern was needed.

even with the pattern, for some reason my brain was having trouble grasping a few basic concepts. do you have certain techniques like that, things that just trip you up no matter how well-explained they are? for me it seems to be tubes. i always sew the wrong thing closed, think something will turn right side out that won’t, all sorts of craziness. i kept having to tell myself to just follow what the pattern said and not think i knew better…especially with finishing the scarf off…and it all worked out great! i want to make another now that it finally clicked (which i should because i really love the final product and this one is destined for Christmasgiftland).

the pattern lists instructions for varying sizes of cowl depending on the fullness you want and the type of fabric you’re using. i made the 1/2 yard option with this amazing Nani Iro flannel (WITH SPARKLY POLKA DOTS) that i picked up at bolt during their sale, but it’s gone now. miss matatabi has a nice Nani Iro selection though, including flannel!

here’s the thing, too. shannon is a pacific northwesterner. even though she’s in canada and i’m in the US, we share a climate. a gal from a chilly and rainy place understands that scarves are very important to have in a wardrobe. i live in trench/rain/warm coats all fall/winter/spring, and the only chance i really have to add some personality to my outerwear is through my scarf collection. they’re cozy, too. it’s amazing how much warmer you can be when your neck is covered. frankly, i even wear them all day at the office – i can never have too many!

i think gals in warmer climates could rock a commuter cowl in voile or gauze, though, and it’d have a totally different (but gorgeous) look!

head over to the Go To Patterns shop to pick up your commuter cowl pattern NOW! it’s only $4 and you can definitely get your money’s worth if you give one of these as a gift! then go ahead and make one (or more) for yourself. you know, the old “one for them, two for me” type situaish.

oh, and thanks to my good friend erin for taking these photos! apparently i’m a bit more relaxed with a lady photographer?

AND NOW…another giveaway! two days in a row, that’s right!

Enter to win a shopping spree at GoToPatterns.com and Sew Fine Fabric!

giveaway now closed

Check out the talented blog tour:

Handmade Therapy Nov. 29th

a pretty cool life. Nov. 29th

Sew Much Ado Nov. 30th

Simple Simon and Co Dec. 1st

One Little Minute Dec. 1st

The Cottage Home Dec. 2nd

Sew country chick Dec. 2nd

Nap Time Crafters Dec. 3rd

A Little Gray Dec. 3rd

skirt as top Dec. 4th

you & mie Dec. 5th

Boy, Oh Boy, Oh Boy! Dec. 5th

Me Sew crazy Dec. 6th

see kate sew Dec. 6th

Delia Creates Dec. 7th

i was provided with the commuter cowl pattern at no cost for this review, and i am also an affiliate of Go To Patterns. my opinions, as always, are my own.