It’s Kids Clothes Week again which means I’m making the girls stuff they don’t actually need! Honestly though, it’s more fun when I’m making what I want rather than what they need. I’ve done the legging blitz before and I can’t say I enjoy it. I’d rather let myself go where my inspiration takes me.
This time around, it’s the fabric I bough at Liberty of London. I bought this heart jersey for V (to tell you the truth, I really hope I can get something out of it for me too!) and it told me it wanted to be a swingy top. It’s very fluid so I’m guessing it’s rayon rather than cotton (I never checked but the Liberty jersey they have at fabric.com is rayon so I’m guessing this is too). I did put it in the dryer though and it didn’t pill at all unlike the other rayon jersey I have. Good to know you get real quality for the price, right?
I started out with my trusty Jalie 2805. I love it so so much! The wide range of sizes, sleeve lengths, necklines… Are you sick of hearing me gush about this one yet?
I started with the crew neck and short sleeves as you can probably tell. I decided to go for a tunic length so I added some length. I measured 20″ from top of shoulder to the length I wanted and then made it a bit longer to account for hem allowance. Then I added 2″ of width at the side seam (so 8″ around) and drew that line up for a bit (so parallel to the side seam). I marked where I wanted the flare to start (1″ below the armpit) and measured the length from there to the hem. I used that number (X) to find where my side seam needed to end. It’s really hard to explain without a drawing but here goes. I placed my ruler with the 0 at the flare point. Then I angled the ruler until the number X matched up with the line from the extra width I put in earlier. That meant that the new side seam finished higher than the hem, right? I drew a line from that point to old hemline, making sure to square that corner. Finally I smoothed the angles with my french curve, cut everything out, and used that pattern piece to copy my mods to the back.
Assembly was straight forward, the same as a regular T-shirt. Oh! I actually used the regular straight stitch on my machine for hemming. The fabric stretches a little as it goes under the presser foot which helps with elasticity. The seam looks a little rumpled after its done but a quick steam and press fixes it. And it’s plenty stretchy! I’m amazed at how well it worked.
Looking at these pictures, I think I could have added even more width at the side seams. I think I could have doubled or even tripled it! But it does look nice and V enjoys wearing it. It was a long battle to get her to wear it with a legging. She’s convinced it’s a dress…
Creative mommy at home to two wonderful little girls, trying to juggle family, sewing, exercise, family, knitting, photography, and did I mention family?
Deux souriceaux 
C’est superbe, lumineux et que dire du modèle…magnifique. Bises Joëlle. > Message du 11/08/16 14:06 > De : “Deux souriceaux” > A : herve.lelievre46@orange.fr > Copie à : > Objet : [New post] Not a Dress > >WordPress.com
deuxsouriceaux posted: “It’s Kids Clothes Week again which means I’m making the girls stuff they don’t actually need! Honestly though, it’s more fun when I’m making what I want rather than what they need. I’ve done the legging blitz before and I can’t say I enjoy it. I’d rather”
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Merci beaucoup!
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What a cute tunic! I can tell she really loves it too! That fabric is really pretty.
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Thank you! She does love it! She got it dirty yesterday and complained this morning when I told her she couldn’t wear it…
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That fabric is perfect for her! I’ll have to try hemming something with a straight stitch sometime… probably best on flared silhouettes like this one right?
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It is, isn’t it? Yeah, I’ve only used the straight stitch when I wasn’t worried about stretch. But on this fabric (rayon/lycra blend I think), it stayed very very stretchy. In their patterns, Jalie actually says you can use a straight stitch on knits as long as you use a slightly longer stitch and stretch the fabric a little as you go. I didn’t lengthen my stitch but it’s essentially the same technique.
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I sewed some baby tights with a straight stitch while stretching a while back and only one small area popped, but I’ve had a lot of trouble with hems popping so I’ve been scared to try it for that… I will now though!
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Yeah, I’ve had so many different hemming techniques pop on me that I’m never 100% confident anymore. When I’m worried about a straight stitch popping, I tend to use the triple stitch on my machine. It has a bit of stretch and gives a nice straight line. I haven’t used my twin needles in months!
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Such lovely fabric, although very short it does look cute as a dress. Little ones can get away with it.
If you want more swing maybe try Madeit Patterns Groove Dress next time 😉
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I confess I did let her wear it as a dress for a little while once but anytime she bounced, she would flash her undies. Thank you for the pattern rec! I really like the swingy silhouette on V and I think a dress might be in order…
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