OAL2017: Mint Twig Renfrew

To see Part 1 of this series (my sweater), click here.

To see Part 2 of this series (my skirt), click here.

Here's my final piece for the Outfit Along! Part 3 :) 

After I decided against my newly finished black and white striped Renfrew for the Outfit Along, I had to quickly plan an alternative top to pull the other two pieces together. I pulled out any cut of knit fabric that I thought might coordinate and laid it inside the sweater itself, then wrapped the front pieces over to get an idea of the finished look. I posted 4 options on Instagram and Ravelry, asking opinions on which to choose. In the end I went with the one I thought would go but that I would also want to wear a lot, which technically was the most popular choice of others as well :) Always nice when that happens so I don't look like a jerk, ha ha.

So this is another hacked Renfrew - this is exactly like the black and white stripe Renfrew ended up, I just didn't have to reconfigure things on the fly with this one since I already did all that trial and error with the first one. Hoorah! I measured my black striped Renfrew and transferred the new neckline to my pattern and cut this one out. Easy :) I love easy.

The winning fabric was this cotton interlock from the Doodles line at Joann's. It has occurred to me that this is the most popular fabric in my wardrobe since it's really the only brand I'm loyal to as I love the softness and fun prints as well as the price and availability. This print is called Twig Floral in Mint and it's still available to buy. While this fabric line is technically designed for kid's clothes, I find this fabric really bridges the gap between toddler and adult. The pattern would be cute as a kids dress or onesy or t-shirt, but I think it still looks fine on this 32 year old. Also I adore the color - mint is one of my favorite colors to wear and this fabric is a bit brighter in real life (less pastel).

I deliberately made this shirt a bit longer than normal because I know this fabric tends to shrink up a bit more with time. This is also long enough for me to tuck in without it popping out all the time (a constant problem in this long torso'd life I lead). I actually don't feel it's too long even untucked - in fact I'm wearing this top untucked with my gray Melissa skirt as I type this :) So it can be worn either way and I love that.

And again let's take a moment to appreciate that neckline. No bra in sight! Love it. I did the same neckline finish as the black version and it worked out wonderfully. I just love being able to just sew something without worrying about the fit aspect. Because I had just made up this pattern a few days before, I was able to cut AND sew this top in less than 2 hours. That is record time for me. Gotta love a quick and reliable project that will get worn a lot.

So that's my whole outfit for this year's Outfit Along :) It was lots of fun as usual, and now I have 3 (actually 4, lol) great pieces to wear. Interestingly I just realized that all my pieces this year coordinate with all my pieces from last year's challenge. I guess I'm a bit predictable. Ah well, it makes for a cohesive wardrobe.

I can't wait for next year's Outfit Along to come!

Summary:
Fabric: 1.25 yards Mint Twig Floral Interlock from Joann's - $7.50
Pattern: Renfrew by Sewaholic Patterns
Notions: white thread - $0.50, woolly nylon thread - $0.10
Time: 2 hours
Total Cost: $8.10

FO: A Tale of Two Bosties

This is a shirt with an interesting story, lol. It all started when I was looking on Joann's website at the new fabric designs and came across this Boston Terrier printed cotton interlock from their Doodles line. My sister, Shannon, has a Boston Terrier named Willie and totally loves him. I suddenly decided she needed a Bostie shirt for her birthday (which was in 6 days at that point). I drove to Joann's right then and had to do some hunting to find this print, but find it I did and I walked out with enough to make a shirt.

I asked my sister what she likes in a shirt fit-wise and decided to make her a Deer + Doe Plantain but with the raised neckline of the Sewaholic Renfrew. I didn't like the idea of using such a large print for the neck band so I dug through my stash of knits and decided to use this bright aqua blue rib knit I got at a thrift store and I love how it turned out :)

When I finished the shirt, I was really in love with it and on a serious roll. I had the notion that I could make a matching shirt for my nephew with the larger leftover pieces. That night I saw my sister and literally took the t-shirt off my nephew's back to trace a pattern from, which I did that night. He's much bigger than I anticipated, so I was only able to use the Bostie fabric on the front panel and even that I had to piece with a bottom band to get it long enough. Luckily I had plenty of the rib knit, so I just used that for all the other pieces.

So here's where it gets interesting, lol. My sister came to visit from Oklahoma a week after I made the shirt, and I quickly suspected that she would not be as amused with the Bostie fabric as I was - not in a bad way or anything, she just has a more contemporary and (dare I say) adult style then myself, haha. I had a cute Lauren Conrad blazer I picked up at a thrift store recently and thought at the time that it looked like something Shannon would wear, so I brought the Bostie shirts and gave a big schpeal that she did not need to feel obligated to keep the Bostie shirt if she thought she would never wear it and that I had an alternative offering if she so chose. I was right - I liked the shirt way more than she did (like I had actually thought of going out and getting more of the fabric to make myself one) but she did like the blazer. So now I have my own Bostie shirt and Shannon has a blazer and all is well, lol. I still insisted on doing a photo shoot with the original recipients along with her dog though before they left.

The fit came out really well so at least I know what size to make if/when I decide to make a shirt more to her taste in the future, lol. Luke didn't want to wear his shirt at first, but once we convinced him to put it on he refused to take it off so clearly he's a fan. It is now his "Willie shirt" since that's the only Bostie he knows. Willie clearly approves as well.

Haha - gross.

So now for the particulars. I made the short sleeve length and just added bands that were the same length as the bottom of the sleeve piece (personally I hate sleeves that hold tight when worn). So it turned out as a sort of cuter version of a ringer tee.

I'm really pleased with the fit on this shirt - it's snug enough to give me a shape but not digging in anywhere.

I think the fabric is so much fun! Even though I'm a corgi lover, how can you deny the cute-ness of these Bosties? Amiright?!

I did manage to get a few pictures of Luke in his shirt the night I gave it to him. These are all his own poses - my personal favorite is the "pregnant lady pose" in the center, lol. Who knows how he came up with that one. His shirt actually came out a little big, which is surprising and a bit of a relief because I was worried it wouldn't be long enough for him compared to the shirt I made the pattern from. The blue ribbing seems to have caused the shirt to grow a bit, but it's kind of a good thing because it means he will be able to wear it longer.

For the adult version, I decided to be fancy with switching my thread colors on the top stitching. Ooh, so fancy! I used my favorite twin needle finish wherever possible and always had woolly nylon thread in the bobbin. Around the neckband I used white thread while at the sleeve bands I used a matching aqua blue color so it doesn't distract. I'm pretty proud of how the sleeves turned out for such an improvised thing. I didn't want actual hem bands, so these are done like the neckband - I stitched the pieces right sides together, pressed the bands under at a width I liked the look of, then top stitched the hem in place. It looks a little interesting on the inside, but it's still neat and clean - there's just 2 seam allowances there now.

So that's it :) The shirt that wasn't actually intended for me but is now mine. It's like I made myself a gift! lol Those are always the best kinds anyway. I look forward to wearing it around on casual days to come. And my nephew thinks it's pretty cool that we have matching shirts too :) #coolestauntforthewin

Summary:
Fabric: 1.5 yards of Doodles Boston Terrier Cotton Interlock Knit - $9.00, aqua blue rib knit - $0.25 (thrifted)
Patterns: Plantain by Deer + Doe with Renfrew neckline
Notions: knit interfacing - $0.10, thread - $0.50, woolly nylon thread - $0.25
Time: 5 hours (for both shirts)
Total Cost: $10.10

FO: Birthday Birdie Sorrel

Oh my gosh I can't believe it's been so long since I last posted! I've been on a mission to get my estate sale done ever since I posted my socks, but I had this post already lined up waiting and just completely forgot to put it up. So I actually made this last month :) The sale was this last weekend though and I am now trying to ease back into a somewhat normal life, so expect to see more posts (and probably more silly bird fabrics, lol). So here we go!

On my birthday this year (back in June) I got to do a little splurging on some Doodles fabric before going out to dinner with my mom. I mean, we were eating right across the street ... we had to go in! I was good and only got two lengths of cotton interlock for t-shirts - the green birds for my Swirly Birds top and this bird and flower print. I justified this because a) they were half price b) I knew exactly what I would make with them and they would be quick projects and c) it was my freakin' birthday, ok? Personal justifications aside, I knew this print would be great as another fun Sorrel Top, channeling the total cutesy factor of my Forest Friends Sorrel. I've had the habit lately of putting all my stuff together on my Kollabora page to keep me motivated, and this top is a perfect example of that. It's like because I made it a project profile already, it was next in line to make. Funny how that works.

I love this pattern for novelty prints! It's also nice for fancy fabrics that you don't want to buy much yardage of - not that this is a "fancy" fabric by any means, but it's nice that the main body pieces for the top in the largest size fit nicely onto 1 yard of 58-60" wide fabric. You will end up with scraps when you're done too, which just feels very satisfying. I did have one little snaffoo with the fabric though this time. I asked for 1 yard, but just before cutting out my top I noticed it looked a little short. They only gave me 32"! What?! Come on, Joann's. How hard is it to get it at the 1 yard mark? I've had it happen where the cut line isn't straight making you get not quite what you asked for, but this was just flat out 4 inches short of a yard. I squeaked by, but I had to piece the underarm of one of the sleeves. Moral of the story - measure your stuff right when you get home so you can do something about it if you're shorted. End rant.

I went with my favorite elbow length sleeves with curved cuffs again because they are just awesome. The pattern also includes plain sleeves, but seriously why have plain sleeves when you can have these cool cuffs, right? I originally planned on making my cuffs and collar out of white Laguna jersey, but out of the 3 other times I've used this pattern, 2 of them have white collars. I just really wanted to switch it up this time. I dug through my stash and pulled out this buttery yellow cotton interlock I bought at a thrift store for $1 a yard a year or so ago. I bought it to make muslins with at the time because I just couldn't imagine wearing such a pastel color with my skin tone, but it works great as an accent color. It's not exactly as bright a yellow as the bird fabric, but it's close enough that I don't mind it and I don't think anyone else will either (if they do, they're a jerk. just sayin', lol).

I played around with the length on this top a bit. I've noticed lately that several of my shirts are longer in the back, almost like a high-lo looking hem, which tells me I need to make the front longer for my body. I lengthen the body pieces to eliminate the hem band anyway, so this time I made the front a full 2 inches longer while I only extended the back by about 5/8ths, then when sewing the body together I matched up the waist notches and then stretched the back fabric evenly from the waist down to make the bottom edges match up at the sides. I really like how this fits! The length seems pretty perfect, so I think I will continue to so the same thing on future iterations (because let's face it, there will be more of these ...). This also seems to have helped with my slight sway back, oddly enough.

I'm also thrilled with my collar stitching this time around. The key to this collar is to really slow town and take your time when attaching the facing. You sew the facing to the collar at the neck hole, then fold it over and secure it by stitching in the ditch all the way around the collar itself. One slip up and it looks home made. I also discovered last time around that it's better to match your top stitching thread to the body fabric (it helps the seam blend into the background), so this time I used a purpley blue thread on top with the buttery yellow in the bobbin (which was an old serger cone I was given years ago that I never thought I'd use - it matched perfectly, lol).

Speaking of the collar, isn't it cute?! This is my first time making up the symmetrical collar option on this pattern, and I mostly just did it to switch things up a bit. This is a very distinct pattern (especially in the crazy prints I make it with), so I don't want it to look like my uniform (though that would not be bad in my book if I needed a uniform, haha). Anyway, so this is the symmetrical collar, which seems like it's thinner just because of how it sits on the neck, but it is actually the exact same collar pieces shifted to meet in the middle instead of off center. It's cute, and I certainly won't rule it out in the future (I still want to make my own version of the black and white striped version in the pattern samples), but I really prefer the asymmetrical collar on me. If you're going super cutesy and different, might as well go all the way I say. I still love this shirt though, make no mistake. I love that it's a little different but still fun. That's me in a nut shell: different but fun :)

This is an awful picture, but it shows the piecing I had to do under the sleeve. It looks a lot like an underarm gusset but it's only on one sleeve. My sister couldn't even make it out when I showed her in person and she also sews, so I'm not all that worried about it. I just sewed a scrap piece to the area of the fabric that needed it before I cut out the sleeve, then finished the edges and pressed the seam open, then cut the sleeve piece. I don't even feel it when worn, which is good. It's just the memory of being shorted 4 inches of fabric that will haunt me. Rrrr....

So that's my newest Sorrel Top :) Man, I love this pattern. I keep checking but it looks like this pattern is still not available to buy. I got it as part of the Sewing Indie month bundle last year as an exclusive release, but she mentioned at the time that the pattern would be released individually later on. I'm thinking something must have happened to her? Sewing Indie month kind of fizzled out mid month. No winners were ever announced, no more blog posts, etc. Anyone know what happened? It's really such a shame because I love her patterns and I'd love for more people to be able to make this cute top. I'd be really interested if anyone knows anything :) Thanks!

So there's my latest fun t-shirt :) It's been a fun and comfy shirt to wear in all the hubbub of my last few weeks. It helped to still feel like me in the midst of being dirty and hot and sorting through piles of old stuff for hours on end, so that's a win in my opinion. I will confess I now have another one of these planned for an occasion in the next few weeks, lol. Man, I love this pattern. I can't wait!

Summary:
Fabric: 1 yard (actually 32", grr...) of Doodles brand cotton interlock from Joann's - $7.00, 1/4 yard of yellow cotton interlock (thrifted) - $0.25
Pattern: Sorrel Top by Seamster Patterns
Notions: knit interfacing - $0.25, thread (purple and yellow) - $1.00, woolly nylon thread - $0.50
Time: 4 hours
Total Cost: $ 9.00

FO: Swirly Birds Planfrew

This is one of those projects that was totally inspired by fabric! When I saw this print from the latest collection of the Doodles line at Joann's, I had to have some. It comes in 3 colorways, and when I went to the store back in June the only color they had on hand was this green. With such a bus fabric, I knew I wanted it to be a fairly simple t-shirt, so I bought 1.5 yards and went home to plan.

The resulting shirt is a true Planfrew - part Plantain, part Renfrew. My last few simple shirts have been combinations of these two patterns, but this one is definitely the biggest marriage of the two. I took my previously altered Plantain pattern with the Renfrew neckline (as well as a 1" wedge removed from the center front for my hollow chest) and used that for the bust and above. Since this fabric is an interlock knit, it's a bit too thick to pull off the drape around the tummy area of the Plantain, so I used the Renfrew pattern for the waist and hip, but I made it the length of the Plantain so I could do a twin needle hem (not the ham band of the Renfrew). Still with me? lol. Since I used the Plantain above the bust, I used the Plantain sleeve as well, but hemmed it shorter. The result is almost my perfect t-shirt.

Here's that slightly shortened sleeve. All I did was fold the hem up a bit more and twin needle stitched at 6/8ths of an inch. It's something I wanted to try lately since I've noticed that a lot of nicer ready to wear t-shirts have a greater distance between the bottom edge and the twin needle stitching.

I'm particularly happy with how the back of this shirt looks. It's a nice relaxed fit, but it's still a bit shapely. I've been trying to figure out the perfect shoulder distance for me, and this is certainly the closest I've come. I also made a deeper hem at the bottom on this just like at the sleeves. I folded under about 1.25" all the way around and then stitched at 6/8ths and trimmed the excess. It may still be a touch long, but I think that I can easily wear it with jeans in this length (should I ever actually wear jeans - it's so blazing hot right now!)

For some reason I had a harder time than usual with this neckband - I just couldn't get the stitching smooth around the curve of the neckline. So this neckline took two tries, but I'm really happy with the results :) I used Woolly Nylon thread in the bobbin for all my twin needle stitching on this shirt and I really am surprised at how it keeps the stitches from looking like a raised tunnel. This is really the perfect neckline height for me though! It's the Renfrew neckline height and neck band, but I attached it using the method from the Plantain pattern. I told you - it's a total marriage of the two patterns!

Yay birds! Isn't the color on this shirt great?! It's borderline Christmasy, and I will certainly play that up come December, lol. While the neckband piece is from the Renfrew, I did make the finished band itself much narrower just as my personal preference - I find it much easier to stitch the neckline if I have a bit more fabric to hold onto and then I just cut off the excess close to the stitching line.

As usual this fabric is wonderfully soft. I've worked with Doodles interlock before on my Forest Friends Sorrel and I certainly plan to again (in fact I already have another piece waiting to be sewn up!). The fabric is really soft since it's designed for toddlers, but it washes really well. It's also got a bit more heft to help hide lumps and bumps, but it's still not so thick as to be too hot for Florida. Perfect!

So there you have it - my Swirly Birds top :) I've already worn this out and about and I can absolutely attest to it's awesome comfort level. Yay for quick, simple, and fun projects!

Summary:
Fabric: 1.5 yards of Doodles Cotton Interlock Green Birds fabric - $10.36
Pattern: Renfrew by Sewaholic Patterns and Plantain by Deer + Doe Patterns
Notions: knit stay tape - $0.10, thread - $1.00, wooly nylon thread - $0.20
Time: 2.5 hours
Total Cost: $11.66

FO: Pinwheel Plan-Frew

I had the itch to sew a new shirt to go with my Brown Melissa Skirt a few weeks ago - my wardrobe tends to favor cooler colors, so kind of hit or miss on wearing with brown. Why not make something, right? I've had this cute Pinwheel jersey in my stash since July and really wanted to make something with it. I ended up with my Thanksgiving outfit:)

I've officially named this the Pinwheel Plan-Frew. I love the fit of the Deer + Doe Plantain, but the neckline is a bit low for me, so after making several versions by laying the Sewaholic Renfrew pattern over top to raise the neckline, I finally grew a brain and traced it all together as a new pattern; thus, the Plan-Frew. I also have noticed a bit of gaping at the neck when I sit down (i.e. hunch my shoulders) on previous versions, so I also took a 1" wedge from the center front as a hollow chest adjustment. I'm happy to report this doesn't gape at all!

I had 1.5 yards of this jersey (from Joann's Doodles line - yes, it's for toddlers) and I really wanted to jazz things up in some way on this shirt so I decided to make the 3/4 sleeve version with elbow patches. The blue on the elbows is a scrap of thrifted cotton interlock that went well enough with the other colors involved so I went for it. I can't believe it's been over a year since I made the 3/4 sleeve version of this pattern! I love it so much - the patches are so fun! I used a nice narrow zig zag stitch on their very outer edge so the stitches disappear more than they did on previous versions. I love how they turned out.

Since the neckband had the pinwheels on it as well, I made extra sure to keep the pattern even when I cut as well as when I folded it over. I top stitched the neckband with a twin needle as usual.

I took quite a lot of care when cutting this out so I could match the lines of pinwheels from front to back as well as on the sleeves. I'm incredibly pleased with how well the sides seams matched up! They aren't matched to be invisible, but I think since the lines are consistent it helps hide the seams.

Obligatory mannequin shots. The top looks more drapey here than it is on my body. While this is a jersey, it's a very heavy jersey and it has a crazy amount of 4 way stretch, all of while made it fit a bit tighter than some of my other versions. I think the fit is flattering though.

Details, of course. I'm pretty proud of my neckband and elbow patch stitching - much more precise than any previous version of this shirt, that's for sure. I can definitely tell my skills have improved over this last year.

Did I mention I love the elbow patches? lol I kept flashing them at everyone who said anything about my shirt all evening on Thanksgiving. I know that I will get lots of wear out of this top since it's fun, goes with mt colors I like, and is really comfy. I couldn't be happier!

Summary:
Fabric: 1.5 yards of Doodles Teal Pinwheel Knit - $8.25, scraps of teal ribbed knit (thrifted) - stash
Pattern: Deer + Doe Plantain with Sewaholic Renfrew neckline
Notions: knit stay tape - $0.15, thread - stash
Hours: 3
Total Cost: $8.40

FO: Forest Friends Sorrel Top

This week marked a momentous occasion - I used one of my most beloved pieces of fabric :) This week is Selfish Sewing Week plus it's the final few days of Sewing Indie Month, so it just seemed fitting that I make something I truly love for myself.

I used the Sorrel pattern again - I've wanted to make another ever since my first version. I wear that shirt about once a week I love it so. It's comfortable and flattering and a little different. All my favorite things!

Again, my hair obscures the fancy collar detail, so here's a shot with my hair behind me. I used a little of this amazing fabric for the body. The fabric is from Joann's in their Doodles line for kids and it's called Majestic Cord Woodland Animals. Sally over at The Quirky Peach posted about this fabric when she found it back in June and I was thrilled to find the same fabric at my local store during their 4th of July sale. I grabbed 3 yards to possibly make a dress, but I'm still torn about knit dresses on me. In the meantime, I just wanted to make something, and I still have enough left for that dress should I decide to take the plunge. This fabric is 100% cotton and it's like a super soft interlock knit. I paired my beloved fabric with some simple white interlock from my stash for the collar and sleeve cuffs.

I went for the cuffs on the sleeves again, because it's just such a fun detail :) I will confess that this time the shirt took much longer to make due to a) me being really picky and b) making stupid mistakes. I had the bobbin run out twice since I decided to use partially filled ones instead of just winding a full one :/ Of course this happened while top stitching and about halfway across the front of the shirt. Like I said, I'm picky, and I just couldn't look down and see a restarted top stitching line on the front of my favorite fabric, so I pulled the whole thing out. The other issue was the stitching in the ditch around the collar. I used white thread to stitch between the collar and body of the shirt, but it was visible every so often which I knew would drive me nuts. I picked out the entire thing. Ugh, it was not fun. I switched to purple thread after that and it came out much better.

The obligatory mannequin shots. Another change I made from my last version is that I lengthened the body and twin needle hemmed instead of adding a hem band. I like this way much better. I think it's a little more laid back looking to just have a standard hem, plus I don't like how hem bands tighten the shirt up around your hips - this one is more free flowing and comfy.

Here are some close up shots :) If you look really closely around the back collar you can see my purple thread. I'm pretty ridiculously proud of getting it so hidden. It was a long, slow line of stitching, but it was totally worth taking the extra effort.

And the insides. The collar facing just fascinates me on this shirt - it's so great that it sits so flat and I never have to worry about it. Totally comfy :)

And there you have it! My forest friends sorrel top :) I know that I will wear the heck out of this top and I will bask in its five-year-old-like goodness. Maybe I'll name the critters? Is that going too far?

Summary:
Fabric: 3/4 yard of Doodles woodland print interlock knit - $5.00, white cotton interlock knit - free (in the stash for years)
Pattern: Sorrel Top and Dress by Seamster Patterns
Notions: knit fusible interfacing - $0.50, woolly nylon thread, polyester thread in white and purple
Hours: 7 (due to mistakes)
Total Cost: $5.50