A reversible long sleeve T shirt

I have an ongoing love hate relationship with sewing contests.  I love that they push me to make things I might otherwise not have made, but I hate that I never win, and worse I quite often come away from them with a lowered self esteem.  I know in my mind that most of what I make probably doesn't appeal to a lot of people - that's one of the reasons I make after all - because I like different things to most people.  But every now and then I feel like a have to take a break from the sewing contests - allow myself to get back to being just me and being happy with that.

Anyway I've been on a contest break for a while now, but the other morning I woke up feeling like I'd like to take part again.  so I took myself off to the Pattern Review website to see what contests they're offering at the moment.

Bargainista Fashionista - not really my cup of tea. I don't have anything that I can copy off because I never actually look at ready to wear clothes.
The Upcycle Contest - nahhh don't really feel like upcycling at the moment.
That left the Reversible Garment Contest.

I've made a number of reversible garments in my life - I've always been interested in figuring out how to make something reversible, but given that the contest is already more than half over I decided that I would try and stick with something simple.

I decided that I would make a new T shirt.  I trawled through my fabric stash and found a thin cotton poly knit fabric in a plain grey and a cotton knit fabric remnant with a teal/black/green/pink paisley pattern that I used in this reversible collared shirt and this dress for my daughter.

The pattern I decided to use is one that I've been working on for a while now.  It started as this pattern for a shirt with exposed seams.  Then last fall I modified the pattern into a dress that I could wear as a cover up to the water park.  I never blogged that dress as the only photo I ever got of it was this elevator shot.

I extended the basic pattern down to dress length then added a bit of extra swing to it.

Then last month I started working on some new work out gear - yet to be blogged - and I took this pattern and cut it back to tunic length, but retained the extra sing so the shirt is fitted through the bust but with plenty of extra room around my waistline.

I ended up loving the pattern and decided I wanted to use it for this reversible shirt.

The exposed seam details would work great for a reversible shirt.

In order to make the shirt reversible I cut two pieces of each pattern piece - one frome each fabric and sewed the pieces together around all edges expect the neckline and cuffs.

The shirt was then sewn together with the pattern sides together and the the seams were opened on the grey side and top stitched down to make a feature.  The cuffs and neckline I cut out of the patterned fabric and finished them on both sides.

I really love the way this shirt turned out and it's been a staple in my wardrobe ever since I finished it.

 The fabrics work well as a reversible shirt - the grey is very thin and a shirt made from it by itself would be very clingy and not very flattering, by lining it with the sturdier patterned fabric it makes it much more wearable - and the extra grey layer on the patterned fabric adds some extra warmth to the shirt, which is always appreciated my my froggy self!

More Kids going out clothes

I don't usually post all the basics kids clothes that I make, generally I just use really basic patterns that I've drafted specifically for the kids but I wanted to  say a little something about these pieces.

First up a going out shirt for my son.  At 8 years old its really not easy to find patterns that will work for him.  Usually its not a problem.  I have some basic self drafted patterns that I keep up-sizing as the kids get older, but this time I wanted a collared shirt and I didn't have a pattern for that. 

I do however have a copy of Simplicity 8180  a pattern that includes a button up shirt, shorts, and tie for a boy and the same for men.  Of course my son was too small for the men's shirt patterns and too big for the boys shirt pattern.

In order to get around this I traced the mens size small pattern onto white paper, then overlayed the boys size large, matching the patterns at waist level (I noted at this point that the waistline on the mens front pattern piece was actually in the wrong place). I then traced exactly half way between the two patterns to get something that was close to my sons size.  I measured this pattern against J and saw that it was quite a bit too long and ended up cutting the pattern off at the kids size large size.  I also cut the sleeves off at the kids size large size.

The fabric that I used for this shirt is a cotton shirting material that I picked up at my local discount fabric place.  It's a plaid in Blue, Black and white.

I cut out my fabric, placing the pocket on the bias and cutting two instead of the one specified.

I then sewed the shirt as per the pattern instructions.  The first modification I made was the pocket.  I sewed the two pocket pieces together right sides facing then turned then inside out so that all the seams are internalised.  I then turned the pointed flap it to the outside and tacked the flap down along the two side edges before top stitching the pocket to the front piece as specified.

This gives the illusion of a flap on the pocket without having to actually sew on a flap.

There seemed to be a few steps missing at this point - the instructions totally skipped sewing the shoulders together which would be a bit confusing if you were not an experienced sewer.

The next change I made was to the cuffs.  I tried to finish off the slit in the sleeves as per the pattern instructions but I could not get the continuous loop to work.  In then end I unpicked it all and cut new placket pieces on the bias and sewed them on as per my usual method.   A much neater finish and easier for me at least.

excuse the chocolate stains on the shirt - we had just come back from the melting pot when I took these photos.

The last change I made was that I used snaps instead of buttons.  My son is not a fan of buttons and neither am I so he chose while round snaps instead.

The shirt is a smidge big, but it's not too bad - and he will grow into (and probably out of) it fast enough.

But I'm really quite happy with how this turned out. and J seems to like it so that's all that really matters.

This next make is quite old now - almost a year in fact, but I'm really happy with it so wanted to share.  Its based loosely on the Chalk and Notch Fringe Dress pattern.

I wanted a dress for my daughter that she could wear either in the winter or the summer and decided on a knit fabric with a long skirt and short sleeves.  I really liked the pick up on the Fringe dress sleeves so borrowed that idea as well as the front neckline notch.

The fabric was a poly lycra blend that I had in stash that I was planning on using for myself. I love this fabric so the fact that I let L steal it goes to show just how much I love her!

The top half of the dress was hacked from my basic kids T shirt pattern, then the sleeve pick ups added and the front neckline modified. 

The neckline is finished with a facing that is then turned under and top stitched in place.

The skirt is just a basic rectangle gathered onto the top at a dropped waist position.

This dress has been a big hit and has been worn for every occasion in the last year.  Here L is performing in her first clarinet concert.

The last piece I want to document is this jacket I made for L.  I used the same Burda style Bomber Jacket pattern that I used for my bomber jacket.

The pattern that I have printed out is a size 36 with no seam allowances.  For L's coat I cut the pattern as is (didn't add the seam allowances) and it turned out a pretty good fit - a bit big, but for a jacket that's OK.

The material that I used is a gold vinyl that I picked up off a remnants table.  I lined the coat with some left over fleece for warmth and used some stash red ribbing for neckline, cuffs and waistband.

The welt pockets are not my best work but they're not terrible.

I used my edge foot for the first time when I was top stitching the zipper and it worked really well.

again - L loves it so its win in my books.  And it goes nicely with the dress too - always a bonus!

A Larissa Muslin

Checking out the local fabric discount place the other day I found a beautiful piece of knit fleece - knit fabric on the outside and fleecy inside in a absolutely beautiful blue colour.

I knew that I wanted to make a nice sweatshirt out of it - but I didn't want it to be a plain  zip up fleece.  I thought about modifying the Jasper sweater pattern that I've made a few times lately but decided that I wanted this one to have a front opening.

So I started searching for patterns that work with sweater fleece but that are a bit more exciting.  What I found was Burda Style's Larissa.  I love all the little details in this jacket - the tabs, the zippers, the sleeve details -and I figured that it'd make a plain sweater look a little more exciting.

However I knew I was going to have to do a muslin .  I went through and compared all my measurements with Burda's sizing chart and I range from a size 32 (anything measured up and down the body) to a size 50 (around the waist).  Based on my bust measurements I needed a size 44 but the Larissa only comes in size 34-42, so I decided to start by cutting the pattern to a straight size 42 just to see how it fitted.

I didn't want to cut straight into my good fabric -  so I grabbed a piece of brown corduroy with embroidery and sequins all over it that I picked up off the bargain table but had no idea what I was going to do with it.  I figured if it worked great it'd be a wearable muslin - and if it didn't well it was no big loss.

I skipped all the little details for this version and just made the basic pattern.

The only change I made to the pattern before I started was to lengthen it by 1.5" I knew that it was going to be too short as is.  Even though I'm a good 6" shorter than what Burda designs for everything I've seen or read about this pattern says its very very short.  So I pulled out my bomber jacket which is about the length I wanted and decided I needed at least 1.5" extra.  I lengthened only at the lower lengthen shorten line below the bust as I knew i didn't need extra length up top.

I cut out the main pieces and basted it all together.  It was a little tight around the waist line - so I let out the 4 side seams by about 1/4 " each giving me a extra inch which was just about right.

The top half was not quite so easy to fix.  It fitted fine across the bust line, but was huge across my upper chest and shoulders.

I took it apart and re-cut the sleeve and neckline to a size 36.  I cut the front shoulders off at the 36 line as well, but left the extra length on the back piece as otherwise the shoulder point was not in the right place.  I then just graded out to the size 44 under the arms.

I sewed it all back together and still had a few issues with the sleeve fitting - I took them out and twisted them around slightly and the fit is a bit better but overall I'm not totally happy the the shape of the front of the armhole.  I wonder if cutting it all out at a 36 and then doing a FBA would position the armhole better.   I may try it and see.

At this stage I was quite liking how it looked so I went back to my stash and found some green poly to use as a lining and a light blue separating zipper and finished the jacket off.

I ended up removing the collar before finishing it as there was just something not quite right with the collar - probably because I hadn't cut it down so it didn't fit properly in the new sized top.

I had to do a quick patch job on the bottom band to account for the extra inch of length I'd made when I let out the side seams.

So overall I'm not sure how I feel about this jacket.  Its a great weight/warmth and I love the fabric - (especially the way I look like a disco ball if I stand in the sun) but I'm not terribly thrilled with the fit. I'm sure it'll get a bit of wear if Spring ever arrives.

 I'm not sure if I'll use this pattern for my good fabric or not now.  But maybe I can use the design ideas with my basic sweatshirt pattern - Ohh that's an idea.  I might have to think about that a little more!