Eliminating the Everyday Back Seam

I've been busy writing blogs for Ellie and Mac again! If you want to check out all the details of my sewing adventures, please head on over there and find out all the fun I've been up to!!

"It's no surprise that The Everyday Tee is my very favorite top. I'm pretty sure making this one made put the number of them in my closet up to 8. One of the things about this pattern that makes me love it so much is the seam in the back that all I have to do is fold my yard of fabric in half and cut out the front on the fold and the back on the other side, super quick and easy because I don't have to refold the fabric! A seam up the back is also very helpful for some adjustments like swayback (link to a tutorial here), but not everyone needs that adjustment. So I'm going to show you how to eliminate the back seam. 

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And there you have it! Well, you will if you check out the blog post over at Ellie and Mac. The Everyday Tee cut with the back on the fold! In the photo above you can see my need for a swayback adjustment, which is why I love the center back seam and left it on my pattern, that adjustment is so much easier with a center back seam. Follow the link to the Swayback adjustment if you'd like to learn a little bit more about diagnosing and adjusting for swayback."

Talk about fun! I love being able to make small changes that make my sewing more personalized and more "me" and teaching other people to do the same feels like a HUGE blessing! Thank you for taking a moment to check it out!

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A Tee for Everyday

Hey friends, I have to tell you about my favorite pattern!

Ellie and Mac is the designer and the Everyday Tee is the pattern.

It really doesn't get much cuter then when it's made with this beautiful Penelope's Garden Poly Rayon Spandex or the Stars and Camo on Taupe Poly Rayon Spandex from The Fab Clique Fabric Shoppe.

The Everyday Tee is a simple dolman tunic top with a dramatically curved hem that completely covers my bum after making height adjustments for my super short 5 foot nothing. The jewel neckline is my favorite!! The band is a bit thin, but so elegant looking, like a relaxed binding that's much easier to sew. There are two different fits, relaxed and fitted. Only the fitted isn't really fitted. It's more like a loose semi-fit and a relaxed fit.

If you couldn't tell from the ground behind me, these shirts and photos were taken with quite a bit of time between them. If I had thought about what I was doing I would have made sure a lot more of my photos would have been similar, but I wasn't thinking so these are the best side by sides I can come up with. But hopefully these photos will give an idea of the differences between the two sizes.

One more tiny little thing about the Everyday Tee that I really like is that there is a seam down the back. Now when it comes to ease of sewing, this extra seam definitely increases the time it takes to make this simple pattern. But, it also  makes the pattern so much easier to adjust for things like sway back, which is an adjustment that I need to make, and the seam makes it easier. It also makes the amount of fabric needed to make this pattern a lot less because you can lay the pieces side by side. For my size XXL I can get the whole shirt from less then a yard! That's pretty impressive!!

 This is definitely a staple in my closet! And maybe, it can become yours too!

Tell me, do you have a favorite pattern, one that you fall back on and love over and over and over again? What pattern hanging in your closet do you find yourself reaching for time and time again because you just love it? I would love to know!

The links provided in this post may be affiliate links where I receive a small commission from your purchase at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting me, my blogging and my sewing!

Having High Hopes

I am a rule follower. I just am. You tell me something and say it's a rule, I just automatically find myself doing exactly what I'm told. I don't always love this about myself, but it's just who I am and I've learned to live with it.

I have also learned that there are some rules that have work-a-rounds. Should you flat outbreak rules? Absolutely not! But if you know what you're doing, you can make changes that may seem to follow and yet at the same time completely break the rules.

Yes, I am that kind of sneaky!

Take this top, for example. It's brand new over at Ellie and Mac. And, yes, I tested it! I love testing for Lindsey and making such amazing things! The testing process is a fascinating one! To see a pattern go from a really good basic idea and turn into something nearly perfect is extraordinary!

Lindsey knocked it out of the park again this time! There aren't a whole lot of options to the High Hopes Dolman , but the off the shoulder option is so beautiful! But with this pattern, fabric choice is going to bring a whole lot of variety. I used a pretty striped sweater knit and the striped do some very fun things with this style of shirt. Some people used lace to make a fun layered look, other people used rayon spandex to get that gorgeous drape! One person even used a glorious silk and a knit material for the bands and cuffs!

Speaking of breaking the rules by using a fabric that doesn't meet the stretch requirements. See these beautiful faux leather from Mily Mae cuffs and band? Yeah, they don't even come close to meeting the stretch requirements for bands and cuffs. But, knowing how much stretch I had and how much I needed, I adjusted the length of the band and cuffs so that they would still be snug but not overly tight and used those to make the bands and cuffs!

The result couldn't have been more perfect!! I am so pleased with how this turned out!

I felt so pretty wearing this top! The faux leather made up a good part of that! I am so thrilled with the results of my rule-breaking! What rules have you broken that turned out having beautiful results?

The links provided in this post may be affiliate links where I receive a small commission from your purchase at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting me, my blogging and my sewing!

Xanadu

Welcome to September!! I can't believe it's already September! Times certainly goes by way to quickly these days. And my baby just turned 3. So my head seems to be spinning a lot lately and it feels like all I've been doing is sewing and dishes, sewing and dishes, with the occasional batch of laundry just to mix things up.

Way back in June, so like 3 months ago (that's a lot of sewing and dishes and laundry!!) I received 2 yards of this GORGEOUS coral tri-blend from The Fab Clique in my monthly Mystery Solid Subscription box and I fell in love with it but had absolutely no idea what I was going to with it. So this beautiful fabric was just destined to sit in my stash until I found the Xanadu.

The first thing that caught my eye on the Pickle Toes Patterns Xanadu was the fact that it's a dolman. I ❤❤❤ dolmans because they are so quick to cut and sew and they always look so good! But then there is this great little ruching detail at the hip! I chose to do the tie ruching, but there is also the option to do ruching with elastic. But that's not the end of the options! You can also add bands, narrow or wide and ruched wideband! CUTE! And then there are the typical sleeve options, hemmed, short band, 3/4 length and long, but there is also a thumb hole SLEEVE option. That's right, a thumb hole SLEEVE! I didn't make them this time around, but I want to next time!!

My favorite part of this Xanadu is the sweet accent gathering right in the front. I love the way it draws the eyes up without making my huge breasts look like they are jumping up and down on my chest to get attention (sorry, but it's true!) The wide neckband has an added layer of interfacing to keep it from bunching up and it's totally worth it! I love the neckline of the Xanadu!

I have fallen just a little bit in love with the Xanadu and have one more planned up! Well, nearly planned. I really want to put some lace on the next one, but I don't want to use the lace as an overlay, more like an accent, but I'm not quite sure how to go about it. Please let me know, in the comments, what you would do to the PTP Xanadu with lace so I can get some ideas!

The links provided in this post may be affiliate links where I receive a small commission from your purchase at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting me, my blogging and my sewing!

24/7 Tunic

The sewing gods have given me way too much confidence in what I'm doing and made me think I was good enough at this to make Kay's entire back to school wardrobe this summer. The last time the thought crossed my mind (last year) I got one outfit completed and it didn't even fit by the time school started!

Determined not to give up, I jumped into a pattern test! This way I would be forced into making at least 2 shirts and hopefully, Kay would love them both.

Thanks to Ellie & Mac and the new Woman's 24/7 Tunic I was able to make 3 new shirts for Kaylie!

Let me tell you a bit about this pattern. First, it's a very quick sew! The dolman sleeves always make for a quick sew. The tunic length means that you can wear this shirt with leggings without feeling like you're showing off things you don't want to. The bottom of the front and the back of the 24/7 can be made with either another knit or a woven! The mix of knit and woven brings so many possibilities to this look! There is a pretty little pleat in the back to add to the sweet little details of the 24/7.

We used some beautiful bubblegum pink cotton lycra from Surge Fabrics for the knit top and a beautiful white organza (maybe, I honestly don't know the kind of fabric) with pink flowers that my mother-in-law had just given us to play with. I love a good upcycle! And yes, the pink was leftover from the dress I was wearing here.

When I started making this shirt, I realized I was going to need to make some pretty drastic changes to the pattern because it's drafted for a 5' 5" woman and Kay, even with her measurements falling within the smallest size, is only 4' 8". I ended up needing to remove 4.5 inches and chose to remove them from 4 different places across the length of the tunic to pull of this look.

We sure love this shirt. Like I said, we have 3 already. We will show them off eventually. And I will be making a few for myself! If you chose to make one of these adorable shirts, what woven fabric will you use? Do you have any tricks for hemming woven fabrics in a curve? Please share!!

The links provided in this post may be affiliate links where I receive a small commission from your purchase at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting me, my blogging and my sewing!