Chasing Coco

You know those little cardboard sleeves for your coffee cup at Starbucks? You can easily make your own reusable, eco-friendly and cute version! This pattern is also adjustable if you order different sizes or can accommodate your own special mugs. It's also a great way to use cotton scraps as it only requires a small strip of fabric for the exterior, interior and interfacing. Download the free pattern template here . You'll need: small piece of interior fabric small piece of exterior fabric (can be the same if you choose) lightweight fusible interfacing matching thread 1 button (size isn't too strict but not too small, I'd say bigger than 1/4in) 3 inches of 1/8in elastic tailor's chalk A cutting mat and rotary cutter are helpful but not required After you cut out your the template and choose your fabrics, cut 1 of each fabric (interior and exterior) and 2 fusible interfacing. You'll need to mark where you want your button needs to go. Normally ...

I immediately fell in love with this pattern. While I wasn't sure a denim jumpsuit was exactly my style, I couldn't stop thinking about it after I saw the pattern release and I had to make it. Also, I have made a lot of quick knit projects lately and while it's nice to whip up a top in a few hours and have something new to wear, it's also sometimes nice to have a more complex, long-term project to sink my teeth into! Jumpsuits are quite tricky to fit since they are pants and attached to the top. If you mess up the waist or crotch length that jumpsuit is going to be up a bunch of places you don’t want it to be. I have previously made Simplicity 1355 (woven) and 8333 (knit) so I had at least some idea of the alterations I would need to make to have a better fit result and of course I knew I needed to make a muslin before cutting into my denim. This project was both laborious and a labor of love, I might have given up if I hadn’t been totally in love wit...

I made my own rashguard and of course I had to make matching bottoms and swimsuit top to wear underneath it! And here is my review of the Ellie and Mac Oasis Swimsuit pattern . Full disclosure: I tried to build a shelf bra into my first rashie so I could wear it along and it was an unmitigated disaster. Instead of messing with it further, I decided to make myself a swimsuit top. I had already bought the Oasis pattern for bottoms anyway. I feel I must (again) express how much easier it is to sew swim knit than I expected. It's a little slippery but it's a lot more stable and less inclined to stick to itself than something like double brushed poly. In between making this project I sewed a really sticky DBP and this was a nice change! I bought 2 yards of each print of swim knit and had enough fabric to make a long-sleeve raglan rashguard, swimsuit top and bottoms, with a little leftover. It was a nylon/spandex blend and had 40% stretch (note the Oasis pattern calls for 50...

I have to say, sewing with swim fabric is much easier than I thought! If I can do it, you can do it too. For my first swim knit project, I set out to make my own rash guard for sun protection. My husband and I were planning a trip to the Great Barrier Reef and I burn like crazy so I wanted to be covered up since we were going to be snorkeling for the better part of 4 days. That's a lot of sun exposure! And I can wear them on our future beach trips in the US, especially the second day when my shoulders are already pink! To make my rash guard I used a shirt pattern I had made already, the Ellie and Mac Going Home Sweater . Don’t let the name fool you, while you can make it using sweater knit you can really use any knit with 50%+ stretch and then it’s just a raglan pattern with some fun additional options. If you want to make a rash guard for yourself, I would suggest using any shirt pattern that has sleeves the length you want and you have made before. Then you know what siz...

This is a really quick sew! If you want something to wear tomorrow, the Twist it Up top pattern definitely fits the bill, I made it in less than one day, including taping my pattern together. It's nice to have a top that wears like a t-shirt but isn't just a t-shirt, has a little something interesting about it, you know? I like the twist detail to give in that little bit of interest. The same reason I like the tie-front top hack I did a few months ago. I am trying to sew more things that fit with my daily wardrobe and about 50% of the time that is a nice top and jeans. I had a little bit of the white cotton interlock I used on my Ellie and Mac Everyday Tee and thought I could use a Twist It Up . White tops are so hard to find ready to wear and I love wearing them in the summer. Alterations While I am taller than the height the pattern is drafted for (drafted for 5'5" and I'm about 5'7") and should have added an inch, I actually didn't have ...

Is there anything harder to find than a plain white t-shirt that isn't see through? This summer staple is the unicorn of ladies fashion! So, when stores fail, we make it ourselves! The tricky thing is also finding white knit fabric that also ins't see through :) It might have been a risk but I ordered this white cotton interlock from fabric.com , I looked at a lot of white knit fabric for this project and read the reviews very closely. I think this was a decent quality fabric and very soft, though I also didn't find it to be fully opaque. With a nude bra worn underneath, it will be fine. Update:  scroll down for pics of my fancy velvet version too! I used the Ellie and Mac Everyday Tee for my pattern. It comes in a loose fit and fitted version and has  a nice curved hem.This pattern serged together on my trusty  Brother 1034D really quickly and you could easily crank out a bunch of tees with it. It's really long and would be a good length to wear over leggin...

One of my coworkers was wearing a really cute top with a tie-front a few weeks ago and as luck would have it, another sewist posted a tie-front tank top. I asked her about it and she said she'd hacked it and posted a picture of her pattern piece and I thought "well, if she can do it, I can do it!" You can do it too :-) This was a really easy hack! For mine, I used the Ellie and Mac Going Home Sweater  (afflink). It's a pretty basic raglan style pattern with t-shirt, tunic and dress lengths. For this hack, I used the t-shirt length of the pattern and a double brushed poly from CaliFabrics. To add the tie-front, I traced off the front pattern piece on to my trusty bee paper . Instead of adding a band around the bottom, I would need to hem it so I added an 1 inch to the bottom to give myself some hem space. Near the center fold, I drew my tie shape using my French curve . I made sure to not make it on the fold, but near and then made a slight curve inward at t...

This was a fun and spontaneous project! I was hitting up the pattern sale at Joann's and browsing around at their fabric, like one does on a Thursday after work 😎 and I saw their doodles line. I usually don't find their fabric to be the best quality for apparel, my store is more quilting and fleece but I had seen a few makes online using their doodles fabric that were super cute and they had this pink unicorn print that I knew my nieces would love so I bought it totally on impulse! Here it is in my cart! It's a good thing there was also a pattern sale going on because I didn't have any patterns for the girls who are 2 and 4 years old. I picked up a few options and decided to make them M7344 , a simple dress with little raglan sleeves. I made top view B and bottom hem F (sleeveless with straight hem). Sizing & Alterations I will be honest and admit that I know nothing about sizing for kids patterns and very little about sizing for kids clothes. Than...