French Terry Remnant Projects

I gathered up all my French Terry scraps and combined them to make a couple of super snuggly garments.

I started with a jumper for me, made using the Sew House Seven for Simplicity 8529. 

You can see from the photo below that the cuffs and bottom band are cut the same size as the section of garment they are attached to, as directed by the pattern pieces.  Depending on your fabric / ribbing, you may prefer to reduce the length of the ribbing so that it stretches as it is attached.  

My scraps were smaller after this projecr, but I managed to put together a pair of Trigg shorts for my hubby, just changing the pockets to be patch pockets on the front, and leaving them un-hemmed..

I did have enough scraps left over to make a pair of shorts for my son, only my daughter came in and saw all the fabric bits laid out and decided that she'd like to make a pair of shorts for herself.  Which she did, but I don't have photos to show you.

Now I only have straggly scraps left, but they are the mostly from the fabric with the moose print, which I love, so I am still hesitant to throw them out.

Jalie Sweatshirts

My winter sewing is well and truly underway and being worn, even though it is not yet winter.  Needs must.  I have sewn a couple of Jalie sweatshirts to keep me snug.

The first one is from a Lillestoff French Terry from Zebra fabrics.  The ribbing is a cotton rib from Spotlight.  I went to Spotlight a few weeks ago to get some ribbing to finish off a hoodie for my son, and was pleasantly surprised by the selection of cotton ribbings, in both plain and stripes.  The pattern is Jalie 3355.  I made this first one according to the size chart (Size V).

My second sweatshirt is made using another terry from Zebra fabrics, purchased with matching ribbing.  This time I cut 2 sizes smaller (Size S), shortenedd the body by about 5 cm, and made the bottom rib band a bit looser.  I wanted to add the kangaroo pocket, but didn't have enough fabric after cutting a hooded vest out for my son from the same fabric.  

Happy Sewing xx

Oversized sweater

Most of my fabric comes to me via my computer, but I am actually not that brave at trying new on-line shops.  I tend to buy fabric from the same few places over and over.  I branched out earlier this year and bought some knits from Craftymamas.  The service was great and the fabrics seem pretty good too, thought this is the first one that I have sewn up.

It is such a pretty orange colour. It wasn't listed as a sweater knit, but when it arrived, it did not seem right for a t-shirt.  It is 100% cotton, no lycra, and so doesn't have great recovery.  It feels soft and cuddly, so I thought I would use it to make a sweater.  

I have been wanting an over-sized sweater, but in spite of my vast pattern collection, did not have a pattern for just what I wanted.  I like some of the indie patterns out there for sweaters, but I am so over taping together pdf patterns, that I didn't buy any of them.  The week I sewed this, Spotlight was having a pattern sale on Simplicity, Kwiksew and New Idea, but I couldn't find one amongst those that I liked.  This surprised me, because I thought Kwiksew were all about the 80s activewear!

In the end, I did a mash up of the Stylearc Lisa t-shirt and the Jalie 2918 men's t-shirt.  Strange combo, but I think it worked!  I knew the shoulders on the Stylearc tee were about where I wanted.  I have very square shoulders, which poke out of dropped shoulder styles, so I only wanted a slightly dropped shoulder.  Then I used the armhole shaping, neckline and sleeve from the men's t-shirt.  I didn't think that this fabric would hem very well, so I sewed hem bands, narrow cuff bands and a neck band.

So now I have a lightweight, snuggly long-sleeved top, that is so comfortable that my children have even worn it to snuggle in, in front of the tv.