SewMona

A slice of my Florida life

Pattern Review: Basic Tee by Patterns for Pirates

I recently tested two basic tee shirt patterns – youth crew neck basic t-shirt and the women’s basic t-shirt. Both of them are so easy and as always, there are lots of options. I also made a reversible shirt using the youth pattern.

I found this fabric at JoAnns and I new my youngest son would love it – mostly because it wouldn’t matter what way he put his shirt on, it would be the right way. When you’re ten and you don’t have to worry if your shirt is inside out or not, that’s a win!

I used flat fell seams for the shoulder seams. This is actually very easy to do. First, clip the seams wrong sides together (trust me). Sew a narrow 1/4″ seam. For this tutorial, stripes is the right sides, polka dots is the wrong side.

Now, clip the shoulder seams right sides together. The seam you just made will be sandwiched between the layers of your new seam so it’s completely hidden. Sew this seam.

Press the seam to the back and top stitch it down. Voila – seam one, done.

You could do this for all the seams, but I thought it would be hard to do on the sleeves, so I did a different finish. Sew the sleeve seam as normal – right sides together. Then, trim the shirt part of the seam. Press the seam to the shirt and top stitch it in place. Sew slowly and stay as close to the edge as possible.

Sew the side seams normally – right sides together. Then trim the back part of the seam. Press the seam to the back and stitch it down like you did for the sleeves. All the seams are now either fully enclosed or stitched down. The last seam is the neck band. Sew it as instructed. Then, press it towards the shirt and zig zag it down.

The final step is the hems. I chose to do narrow hems and zigzag them. This way they match the neckline stitching. To make a narrow hem, turn under 1/4″ and then another 1/4″ and sew it down.

Want to see all the options – check out this post

Ready to buy one or all? Individual patterns are $7.50 through Monday February 11 and the bundle is $21.

Women’s pattern

Men’s pattern

Youth pattern

Bundle

Pattern Review: Lee Raglan by Made for Mermaids

I recently tested the newest pattern from Made for Mermaid – the Lee raglan. It’s a slim fit raglan style shirt that’s full of options as usual. Raglan means the sleeves extend to and become part of the neckline.

I made a tunic length short sleeve version for my daughter who loves skirts and leggings. It gives her another option to wear with her leggings and she needed some new shirts anyway. This pattern is super quick to sew up. There are four pieces to cut – front, back, sleeve, and neckband.

Lee raglan sleeve

The first one I made was a bit small – I must have mis-measured her and while she will wear it, it had some weird wrinkles around the neck.

The second one (pictured), I adjusted the size based on her correct measurements. However, I used cotton lycra for the sleeves and it doesn’t have as much stretch as the main body fabric. You can see how it pulls at her shoulders. If I had used the flowered fabric for the sleeves too, it probably would have been OK.

So, I made a third top – this time in the right size and with the right fabric. It came out perfect! This is the short sleeve tunic length which is just right to pair with leggings. I choose the easy neckline, but there’s also a henley neckline. It also comes in 3/4 sleeves and long sleeves and it can be shirt length.

Each pattern is on sale individually for $7.50 until Tuesday (1/29/2019)

Youth- www.madeformermaids.com/lee
Men’s- www.madeformermaids.com/menslee
Women’s- www.madeformermaids.com/mamalee

Plus there are two bundles to help you save!

Women’s & Youth – $13 ($5 savings)
www.madeformermaids.com/leebundle

All 3 – Men’s, Women’s, and Youth – $18 ($9 savings)
www.madeformermaids.com/leebundle2

All of my fabric is from JoAnns except the solid cotton lycra which came from Purple Sesamstress (she has awesome prices on good quality cotton lycra).

Pattern Review – Two Free Tank Top Patterns

Two free tank tops and a review of them.
*This post contains affiliate links.

I’ve lived in Florida for almost five years now and my summer wardrobe is still lacking in tank tops!  I only wear pants and long sleeves for maybe 2-3 weeks of the year and yet I’m pretty sure that I have more long sleeve shirts than tank tops.  This summer I hope to remedy that!  I’ve had this Lago tank top pattern by Itch to Stitch for over a year and I’m just getting around to making it.  I actually printed it out shortly after I got it and then….well, I never made it.  So, while I was at JoAnns the other day I found this soft drapey knit that I knew would be the perfect tank top.

The Lago is a super quick and easy tank to sew up!  There are five pieces of fabric – front, back, neckband, and two arm bands.  I’m pretty sure that it took me less than 30 minutes!

The Lago tank is absolutely free – no code, no Facebook group to join, just head over to her site and “buy” it!

Using free patterns is a great way to learn more about a designer.  You get to try out one of their patterns and the only cost to you is some fabric and some time.

Another great free tank pattern is the Stardust by Halla.  You have to join their Facebook group and then read the pinned post for the code, but it’s worth it!  It’s available for sizes 00-30.  There are several free patterns listed there (check out their dolman pattern).  This is another pattern I’ve had for a while and never made (are you sensing a theme here?).

This pattern will work with knits that aren’t as drapey – like this cotton lycra print that I bought because I loved it and it just seems so appropriate for Florida!  I made this tank top, but the pattern I used wasn’t made for knits that aren’t drapey.  So, it ends up looking like a tent…not really a flattering look, plus after I got it made, I didn’t really like the handkerchief hemline.  It slowly made it’s way to the bottom of my shirt pile.  One day recently I decided to find a pattern that I could use to fix this shirt.  Fortunately the Stardust tank top is a similar cut at the top, but a little more close fitting so I can upcycle my new tank top into another new tank top that I will actually wear!  Also, I’ve learned to really pay attention to what kind of material a pattern requires!

The first step is to to fold the front and back in half.  I’m not changing anything about the the arms or neckline so I don’t want to take it all apart.  I unpicked the hem at the center back and center front folds so that it would be easy to rehem when I’m all done.

Carefully fold front and back in half

Since I’m not adjusting the neckline at all, I just lined that pattern up with the neck binding.  This meant that the bottom edge of the pattern was exactly even with the part of the hem I unpicked.

Line up the neck.

I lined up the underarm as best I could.  When I straighten the underarm seams out, it almost makes it to the edge of the pattern.  Since I’m not adjusting the anything until about 3-4 inches down from the underarm seam, I didn’t worry about it.  I already know that I like they way this part of the shirt fits.

Lining up underarm

After cutting out the new front and back, they were still attached everywhere but the new side seams.  I clipped them together and sewed them.

Clip the new side seam

After I got them sewed, I had a weird curve near the underarm where the old and new pattern didn’t quite line up.  I redid my seam (purple line) to straighten it out so that it doesn’t look funny.

Carefully straighten out the underarm seam.

When I tried it on, I loved it!  What a difference the right pattern AND the right material make!  I’m already planning for make a couple more of these!

Enjoy your new Stardust tank top!

Hop on over to the Halla Facebook group and get the codes for all the free patterns!

*This post contains affiliate links.  See my disclosure policy for more details.

Pattern Review – Roxy Bathing Suit by Made for Mermaids

Roxy swimsuit by Made for Mermaids
*This post contains affiliate links.

Making bathing suits for my daughter wasn’t something I ever really considered until last year.  It turned out that making girls swim suits wasn’t nearly as hard as I thought.  So, when Made for Mermaids announced they were looking for testers for their newest bathing suit, I jumped at the chance.  The Roxy bathing suit is a two piece vintage style bathing suit.  The high waisted bottoms and top with three length options are sure to please even the pickiest girl (and mom)!

The high-waisted bottoms cover the belly button and can either be ruched (have gathers along the side seams) or not and there are optional ties that can be added.

High waisted bottoms (with ruching) cover the belly button

The top comes in three lengths – bikini (no ruffle/peplum), short peplum, and long peplum.

Roxy bathing suit by Made for Mermaids

Short peplum – no belly showing

My daughter really wanted the long peplum – she felt like it would cover better.  However, even the short peplum covers the stomach since the bottom are high waisted (they cover the belly buttom).

This is the long peplum.

The top has wide stripes that are slightly gathered.  Even though they sit at the edge of the shoulder, they still feel secure and don’t slide off.  You can add elastic to them to help keep them in place.

Go ahead, jump on over to Made for Mermaids and buy the pattern!  It’s sure to be a hit!  There’s also a Mama version available.

Interested in a one piece bathing suit?  Look here for my review of the Camilla (and notice how my daughter’s taste in swim fabric doesn’t change).

*This post contains affiliate links.  See my disclosure policy for more details.

Reviving Fitted Sheets

Reviving Fitted Sheets

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There’s nothing quite as annoying as a fitted sheet that just won’t stay, well, fitted!  Waking up in the night with a corner undone and the sheet bunched up under you is not restful.  Having to put the sheet back on every morning is just frustrating.

This corner should be fitted not flat

Fixing this is actually really easy and if you’re new to sewing, don’t worry.  No one will see it when it’s done – it’ll be tucked under your mattress where it belongs.  All you need is some elastic – 1/4″ would be best, but 3/8″ will work too.  Anything bigger would be too bulky.

Use .25" elastic

Then you need to figure out how much elastic you need.  Measure another corner (hopefully all your corners aren’t flat).  Currently the elastic goes about 11″ beyond the corner.  I decided that I want mine to go 15″ beyond to hopefully help it stay in place better.  I’m very exact when I measure elastic….no, I’m really not!  I held one end of the elastic at the 15″ mark and gently stretched it to the end of the tape measure.  Then I doubled it so it would stretch from one end to the other.  Mine ended up being around 18.”

Measure the current elastic

Fold the elastic in half and mark the middle (I use a highlighter).  Clip it to the seam at the corner.

Clip the middle of the elastic tothe seam

Measure from the corner seam out however far you cut your elastic (15″ in my case) and clip the end there.  Do the same for the other end of the elastic.

Measure to see where to clip the end of the elastic

Here you can see how the elastic will need to be stretched as I sew.

Clip the elastic at the ends and in the middle

You want to sew the elastic with a stretch stitch or a zigzag so that stretching it doesn’t pop the stitches.  You will also want a ball point needle otherwise your machine will make a mess of the elastic.  Gently stretch the elastic as you sew.  I hold the sheet and elastic near the middle clip and stretch from there so I get a nice even stretch.

Stretch the elastic and zigzag it

Next, admire your beautiful work.  Don’t worry if it doesn’t look perfect (mine looks a little wonky in spots) – no one will see it and it will still work!

Fitted sheet with elastic sewn in

Finally, make your bed and know that in the morning all the corners will still be tucked in.

The revived fitted sheet

 

*This post contains affiliate links.  See my disclosure policy for more details.