Chasing Coco

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...

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...

The Ellie & Mac Around the Block Hoodie is definitely a fan favorite and I can totally see why, it is a really elevated hoodie look. Here is the scoop on my experience making my first one! Inspector Pikachu makes sure I have the right pieces. Alterations I made very few alterations, really just grading for size. I measure a Large bust and XL waist/hip but based on my experience in making the E&M Lucky Girl and it having more tummy ease that I wanted, I looked at the size of the pattern pieces and decided to make a straight Large for the body. It's more of a fitted hoodie look than a big comfy hoodie. I may or may not grade to an XL next time depending on what I'm going for. I also graded the sleeve to an XL from the Large size because I have larger arms and feel like the sleeves on my E&M Going Home Sweater are too tight. I am really happy with the sleeve changes but next time I'm going to grade the armhole up too. Maybe I should just be making ...

It's a new year and that means it's time to get in shape! The best motivation is a super cute self-sewn workout top, right? Definitely. I had bought a really cute nylon-spandex remnant from LA Finch Fabrics a while ago, thinking I might make another swimsuit but since I really didn't need the last swimsuit I made (I have a TON) I decided I could use it to make myself an exercise top and Simplicity 8338 was right there in my pattern stash waiting to be called into service. I decided to make view B with the gathered back. While C is also pretty cute, can you imagine doing a downward dog in that? It would probably fall off ☺and I'm not really into that. Pros of this pattern Really simple directions and easy to construct! Each back is printed separately on the pattern tissue so you can easily make different views without having to trace anything. I was able to make this from just 5/8 of a yard of 60" fabric, this is less than the pattern says you'...

I have been wearing my scrap panties for a while now and I have come to the conclusion that the leg elastic is often too tight so I decided I would experiment with using leg bands instead of elastic. I had a new pattern to test out too, the Ellie and Mac Feel Frisky Panties  (Afflink). Like the Megan Nielson Acacia pattern I made previously, they are a brief style panty. I haven't found a cheeky panty pattern but I have experimented a little with making my own, it still needs some fine tuning before I share it however. Fabric was DBP from Cali Fabrics. The Frisky panties come in 3 rises - low, medium and high. I made the low rise version. Alterations I made The only thing I really changed was to use leg bands instead of leg elastic. I measured the leg holes to be 28" (size XL) and cut my bands at 27 x 1.5" (used .25" seam allowance to sew bands together). I serged the bands on and the coverstiched them. Next time around I might make the bands an inch short...

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 ...