Chasing Coco

Does anyone else feel like all they are wearing these days is lounge wear? I have been working from home just shy of a year and while I sometimes wear a cute outfit or a nice top for video conference my day to day wardrobe involves a lot of comfortable clothes, including a lot of athletic apparel. With all the cute bras I plan to make from the new Switch it Up pattern , I want some open-back exercise shirts and thankfully, I have several options in my pattern stash. The first one I decided to make was the Good Sport from Ellie and Mac . I actually did a hack similar to this one a while back from their free tank pattern but I wasn't 100% happy with my hack so I grabbed the Good Sport. I chose this pattern to go first because I have made quite a few E&M patterns and am pretty reliably a large graded to an XL hip and I had this adorable bee print fabric from LA Finch Fabrics that I didn't want to ruin (see a close up of the fabric below, it's really cute!). I also didn...

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...

Well somehow we have made it to summer and while a lot of the pools are closed, I know two little girls who are living their best summer life right now. Quarantining with their grandparents, who live next to a river, where there are plenty of swimming opportunities. Meanwhile my neighborhood pool is closed and my husband offered to spray me with the hose as I run around the yard. So, plenty of swimwear needs all around! So this cute lobster print seemed destined to become Cape Cod swimsuit  from Ellie and Mac for both of them (affiliate link). The fabric came from LA Finch Fabrics and I have a lot of it, so you'll be seeing something else made from it in the future! These were supposed to be 4 of July gifts...that's not a thing but I am a gifting Aunt and it was around the 4th of July. However, due to some COVID related complications, I haven't had a chance to hand these suits off yet! Which means, I don't know how well they will fit them yet. Lately they have been fitt...

I have a ready to wear tank top that I love and have worn to pieces. It's a simple tank top with a draped cowl neck. It's soft, great for summer and has a little extra design detail with the neckline. I have probably had it for 10 years! So it's also old and basically worn out at this point. I set out to make Simplicity 1716 as a replacement for my beloved, old, tank top. To make it a little more work-friendly, I decided to make view E with the flutter sleeves and hem length F for a shirt length rather than a tunic. I used a bright coral liverpool fabric, which looks kind orange in the photos, but is really coral. I don't love this fabric if I'm being honest, it's a little too cheap/polyester feeling. If I remember correctly it was cheap but it's not as nice as other liverpool I've used. Sadly I cannot remember where I bought it from so I might accidentally buy more. Something with a little more drape would probably also be better for this ...

I am trying to motivate myself to exercise more by making myself some cute active wear! Another bonus is I get to use my newish coverstitch machine on the finishing. I'm also finding out there are not a lot of cute active wear patterns! First I made Simplicity 8338, which was in my stash and then I was looking around also at some of the indie designers and just couldn't find what I was really looking for. I almost *gasp* bought some new workout tops but as I was looking at the ones I liked, I though, "hell I can hack that from a tank top pattern." And so I set out to do just that! Here was my inspiration pic. I didn't like the curved lower edge but I quite liked the shape of the opening. In thinking this through, I decided I could use a tank pattern with a back seam and as way to make the finishing around the back cut out easier, I decided I did not want to do binding (I avoid binding like the plague) and I thought I could do a band or coverstitch arou...

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 ...

One of my sewing goals this year is to make more separates instead of pretty dresses, to that aim, I made the Ellie & Mac Lucky Girl pattern as a top. I really like the many sleeve options that are in style right now. Originally, I wasn't going to buy this pattern because I felt like I could easily hack the pattern's sleeve options from other Ellie & Mac patterns , but then it went on sale and I thought I'd save myself the time. More sewing time is always better!   Fabric choice I used some ponte knit that I had leftover from the shirt I made my husband a few weeks ago, a green ponte knit from fabric.com and a new floral DBP from Cali Fabrics. I was a little worried about the ponte fabric having enough stretch because the pattern specifies 50% 4-way stretch and it only had 50% 2-way stretch (which is still pretty stretchy for a ponte!). For that reason, I decided it would be best to use as my main fabric and do the sleeves and bands all in the flor...

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...