Chasing Coco

Final product - 40k Sway George and Ginger Patterns gave the 40k Sway pattern away to celebrate having 40,000 members in their Facebook group. Look at how cute that neckline is? Of course I had to make this super cute freebie. As an extra bonus, there are directions for making a functional placket opening or faux opening. I opted for the faux placket because it's marginally easier and I have no reason that I need the opening to work but if you needed access to a port or to breastfeed, this top design would be great! I measure a size L12 (full bust 38") but I was at the top of the size range and worried it wouldn't fit in my arms so I decided to go up to an L14 and graded out to an XL16 hip. I checked my fabric stretch before sewing it as I was using a French Terry which is not always very stretchy. My fabric had 50% horizontal stretch and minimal vertical stretch (maybe 10%); the pattern says it needs 50% 2-way stretch so I thought I would be fine. Um.....no....It was way...

As my sewing efforts have evolved, I have aimed to sew what I need to wear more and less to learn new things about sewing and garment construction (though it still sometimes happens). This has led me to sew things like underwear and cardigans which I used to always buy. I am a person who is cold 90% of the time, so I am a person who needs cardigans! I have made a couple of M6996 this year and the Chapman cardigan from Ellie & Mac is somewhat similar but it doesn't have a fold down neck and it has pockets❣❣❣ Otherwise and for the construction, they are not that different. I used an animal print rayon spandex from Olga's closet for the main fabric and the black is a lovely thick double brushed poly from LA Finch Fabrics. Changes I made As normal, I graded from a large bust to an XL waist/hip. I made the longer tunic length cardigan with long-sleeves for this first version. Of course, I also used the optional pockets. The only thing I really changed was, I ...

I have been planning this cardigan from McCall's 6996 from this beautiful cream stripped French Terry remnant for months. It hasn't been very cold in North Carolina this winter but I made it anyway! I'm just wearing it as a jacket instead of a cardigan :) Sorry it's a bit wrinkled in my photos - I'll update with better ones later on, I had worn it a whole day before I took these so it needs a steam! Fabric I used a 1 7/8 yd remnant that was 60" wide; I had just enough to squeeze a medium size of this pattern onto my fabric. I made view D (straight hem) and I'm not sure I'd have had enough for the peplum views; the pattern envelope suggests exactly the amount of fabric I had before pre-washing it for shrinkage. To make it work I actually had to piece my belt because my fabric wasn't long enough. Now, because my fabric was stripped this also led me to use a little more as I tried to align the stripes at the shoulder seam and my stripes wer...

Around Christmas Ellie & Mac was having a big pattern sale and I picked up a few of their patterns. I hadn't made any of their patterns before, but they were cute and modern so I thought I'd give them a whirl. Their patterns are very reasonably priced for an indie designer and they have regular sales so I can definitely see myself buying more in future....I bought five at Christmas so, it'll take me a bit to sew these up! Ellie & Mac has a very inclusive size range, which is a really nice feature and makes me want to support them more. I'm shocked when my hip size is the largest offered. I'm a RTW size 12! Hello? Women come in a lot of sizes and shapes! Grading between sizes is much easier when there is a big range to blend among. I started with the " Favorite Sweater " pattern, kind of a presumptuous name huh? It's an off-the-shoulder pattern with an option for a cowl neck or band and a curved hem or band. It needs a 50% 4-way stre...