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...

 I liked M7574 so much I accidentally bought two copies. Whoops! I got around to making it around Thanksgiving for a Christmas shirt. I made length C with sleeves B for a long sleeve shirt. I had looked around for a holiday print knit for weeks and couldn't find anything I liked when by chance I hit the jackpot on the Joann's clearance table! This was a red llama fabric cotton knit with a small amount of spandex, I think 3%. The black sleeves are double brushed poly that I had in my stash, which I think was from LA Finch Fabrics. Pros I didn't realize it until I made the pattern but the raglan sleeve is curved on the front. I really like this and it adds some nice interest to the top. It has a two piece sleeve, which I love! You don't usually see this on a knit pattern and I really like the contour that it adds. The back seam is also contoured nicely. If it's going to be cut in two pieces it shouldn't be straight! That is a pattern pet peeve of mine, it's n...

I have been way behind in my posting my fall sewing. I have been sewing a lot, just not blogging about it apparently. I think the COVID blues finally set in for me in late summer/fall which might account for my failure to keep up with my posts; there were a few points when the sewing was more minimal too if I am being honest. One of my recent initiatives has been v-neck tees. I sewed for literally years  before I really noticed how few v-neck patterns there were for knits. They are a little harder to sew than a crew or scoop neck but it's a little surprising to me that there are so few vees out there, it's not impossible to learn! Early on in the pandemic, I bought a couple of a patterns from the Makerist site. I think they were having a $2 pattern sale, and you know I cannot pass that up! One of the ones which found it's way into my cart was the Dandelion tee from Millicent Joy patterns. I have now made this pattern 5 times! I have refined the fit so it's the perfect ...

 This was the first pattern I made from Made for Mermaids! When the Oaklynn was released, I kept seeing makes of it and they were all so cute I had to buy it and make it for myself! Pros I don't have many comments on the fit or construction as it was pretty straight forward so I am keeping my comments to positives and negatives. Here are good things about this pattern: I LOVE that the pattern gives an arm measurement. I often have a an issue with patterns not fitting around my arm and this made it really easy to know what size would fit my arm. I will have to check if they do this for all of their patterns because that would be amazing. It could be it was just because this was a dolman style top. The pattern includes directions for how to mash sizes. This is great for newbies that haven't mashed before, so you can get better fit. There are a million options included with this pattern! There is a v-neck, crew, hood, color-blocking, cuffs, curved hem and probably more things. It ...

Disclosure: I received this pattern for free as part of a call for testers of an updated size range; the original Heat Wave Hot Pants pattern was already available. As of July 2020 George and Ginger decided the pattern needed a little more work before it could be released. My size fit in the original size range, however, which goes up to 2XL. I do not have any relationship with the pattern company nor was I asked to write this post. The tester call was open to anyone. So I was not super sure about this pattern when I saw it on other people. Don't get me wrong it's really cute but these shorts are well, short and that's just not my preference these days. Now in my 20's I wore like .5" inseam shorts but now I wear 3.5" inseam shorts. Since it was COVID era, I had plenty of time and frankly I needed some shorts, I joined the test anyway! Really, they aren't as short as I thought they'd be! Probably, they look different on different people's bodies or ...

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...

The Sweetie Pie  is a super simple dress pattern, you can easily sew this up in a few hours including cutting it out! I have made both the women's and kid's version of this pattern (pattern links are affiliate links). It's really simple and twirly. The silhouette is classic, it's basically a circle skirt cut right on the bodice. Since it's cut on and has the full skirt, it's a little bit of a fabric hog, there will be a big shape next to the bodice that isn't used - but it will be a big scrap so you can use it for something else! Maybe a color blocked tee? Panties? Lots of options. The pattern even has some cute patch pockets, however, neither of my fabrics lended well to these so I didn't use them. Next time! For my niece, she measures right on the edge of 4T/5T so I made her a 6T. It fit her pretty good and is just a smidgen too big in the bodice. Just what I'm looking for in a kid's dress, so she can wear it as long as possible. One of the dr...