Jaime's Endless Summer Tunic

A Verb for Keeping Warm is an awesome shop in Oakland, CA that shares our love of both sewing and knitting. They have just released their first print sewing pattern and it is awesome. Welcome, Endless Summer Tunic! 

Pattern: Endless Summer Tunic
Fabric: Hemp/cotton chambray stripe
Size made: 37" - smallest size
Alterations: Shortened the tunic by 2"

Endless Summer Tunic is a pullover tunic with gathered shoulder plackets and a v-neckline. It pulls on with no closures and also has pockets. This tunic is amazingly comfortable and I've already worn it several times since making it just a couple of weeks ago. 

The tunic comes together easily with well written instructions. The neck is finished with a facing and the armholes are finished with bias tape. Small gathers on the back placket are a cute touch. The back is just longer than the front and it has a slight shirttail hem.

The fabric I chose is a dreamy, lightweight hemp/organic cotton pinstripe chambray. It is so soft and flowy, I just want to live in this! We just received another bolt of this beautiful, limited edition fabric...

The fit is loose and casual. The only alteration I made was to shorten the tunic a couple of inches. Endless Summer Tunic pattern is available in the shop now - I bet you can't make just one!

Jaime's Polly Top

We recently started carrying the beautiful By Hand London sewing patterns. In addition to their line of women's patterns we carry here in print, they also have a free downloadable pattern - the Polly Top! It only takes a couple of 70 degree days and I'm thinking summer. I want to knit linen shirts and sew tank tops. The Polly top is the perfect tank to kick off my summer sewing.

Pattern: Polly Top by By Hand London
Fabric: Liberty of London Betsy Ann print: 28", Robert Kaufman Union Chambray: 5/8 yd
Size Made: 6/10
Alterations: I took in 2" on the shoulder seams to raise the neckline. I also did an invisible bias by pulling it to the inside of the garment.

The Polly top features a cut out front. The pieces are eased together to create bust shaping so no darts are used. This feature means the tank can be made with endless variations: all one fabric, two different fabrics, a hidden bias binding on the neck and armholes or a contrast bias binding. I choose to use a Liberty of London floral with a Union Chambray voile for my contrast fabric. Yes, I did say Chambray voile. These new fabrics from Robert Kaufman come in 4 different chambray-denim hues and are oh-so light and soft. They pair perfectly with the Liberty of London lawn fabric. I made my bias binding out of the chambray voile as well so as not to waste any precious Liberty on a hidden bias.

In general this was a simple pattern to whip up - especially if you are familiar with a bias binding finish on arms and neck. The most difficult part of sewing this top was step one - easing the cut-out into the main part of the top. It takes a lot of easing and I had to go very slow to get it right. Some tips for this part would be to carefully clip into your fabric pieces 1/2" before sewing the seam and pin your seam at 5/8" where you will be sewing. 

When I finished this top, it was too tall in the shoulders so I had to take my shirt in at the shoulder seam a good 2" on each side to make it fit properly. This was an easy alteration to make and now the top fits great. Summer 2014 wardrobe staple: done!

If you need help with your Polly top, you'll be pleased to know we are offering it as a class and there are still spots in the upcoming session on May 4th. Download the Polly top here and get started sewing - summer is right around the corner!

Jaime's Merchant and Mills Dress Shirt

Fancy Tiger Crafts received a very special package in the mail from London last week. Merchant and Mills sewing patterns have arrived! Some of you may have read all about them on Monday's post and are checking back for more. I was so excited to sew one up as soon as we opened the box. It was a tough choice, but I went for the classic Dress Shirt. I chose one of the Robert Kaufman Union chambrays in a subtle yarn-dyed stripe.

The Dress Shirt is a easy-fit style, meant to be worn loose and with no closures. It features a faced front bib and gentle gathers on the back yoke. I made the UK size 10 which fits great, going with the relaxed style of the garment. What could be more perfect for my prairie inspired photo shoot in this field?! 

The Union chambray fabric sews like a dream! It is so easy to work with and it flows great for this pattern. This is the second time I've used one of these chambrays and I love them more and more every time. The fabric and pattern combined make for an extremely comfortable dress that I will wear often this spring.

This pattern also has an option for longer sleeves and would be easy to alter into a tunic to sport over leggings. The shirttail hem is a beautiful detail to give the dress even more sophistication.

We hope you all love these patterns as much as we do - we can't wait to see what you make!

Craft Up A Trend: Stock Show Style

The cowboys are starting to roll into town and Denver is preparing for the 108th annual National Western Stock Show! It's time to find our western spirit and craft up some Stock Show Style.

We have collected an array of crafty patterns and supplies that are suited for your all stock show needs. With these we assure you will be the most fashionable attendee at this years stock show! 

Rockabilly Soft by Hill Country Weavers is a beautifully constructed cardigan with yoke detailing fit for a cowgirl. Muted colors of Loft make the perfect palette for this sweater. Check out the western-style piping at the shoulders!

Figgy's sewing patterns have us swooning over the adorableness. The Ayashe lays out options and suggestions on how to further customize this gem for your little one. Can you just picture this top with some tiny cowboy boots?! 

Obviously we needed to figure out the perfect pattern for Kokkas horse fabric from Japan. The Madeleine is a full skirt that sits at your natural waist and... it has suspenders! The over-sized pockets will be a perfect place to stash treats for your new llama friend!

This rustic Shetland lace from Elemental Affects would be lovely teamed up with Brooklyn Tweed's Frida pattern by Hiroko Fukatsu.  This fringed shawl is sure to keep you warm and stylish while watching all that mutton bustin'.

What about crafty cowboys, you say? Whip up one of these Negroni shirts from our pendleton shirting. You are sure to be the most stylish man in the catch-a-calf contest!

We love chambray, specifically dresses made out of chambray. We have a wide range of colors in stock but of course the standard denim wins for stock show sassiness. 

Watch out cowboys! There's a new horse in town and he can't wait to attend this years national stock show. This needlefelted pony will win the hearts of all those in search of their western spirit! 

We hope to see you there showing of your new duds!

Amber and Jaime Make Chambray Hawthorns!

-jaime
Amber and I recently finished two Hawthorn dresses! The Hawthorn is the newest pattern by Colette and we've been dying to stitch it up. The Robert Kaufman Chambray Union fabrics have also been calling our names so it was an easy decision which fabric to use.

The Hawthorn has many variations, including a shirt version and a sleeved version, but for summertime action, we both chose to go sleeveless dress. The light weight chambrays are perfect for this dress and feel great to wear.

The dress features front and back dart shaping, a fitted waist and a flared skirt. The button-down front means lots of fun picking out buttons! Amber chose to use the dark indigo chambray with tiny multi-color buttons that pop. What a stunner! I chose to use the dobby dot chambray with mis-matched vintage pearl buttons.

These dresses are sure to be a wardrobe staple, carrying over to the fall when they will be perfect for showing off some knitwear - can you imagine them dressed up with handknit cardigans and shawls? Maybe with some opaque tights and boots?! Yes.

Thanks to Black Eye Coffee for the beautiful photo location.

Railroad Denims & Chambray Union

--amber

Railroad Denims and Chambray Union fabrics are here from Robert Kaufman! We can't wait to make a million classic indigo dresses, shirts and quilts galore!

We cut just a few fat quarter bundles--great for quilting projects--so if one needs to be yours, come on over soon!

The Robert Kaufman booth was very inspiring at Quilt Market, where they showcased these new classic fabrics. They had made up a Railroad Denim sample using the Negroni mens shirt pattern by Colette, as well as Sew Liberated's Esme Top in a Chambray.

Jaime and I have already cut chambrays to try out the newest Colette Pattern, the Hawthorn Dress. I can't wait to stitch it up!

New Dress Fantastic-ness!

Jaime and I both just finished sewing our Colette dresses. They turned out great and we love our cute new frocks!


Jaime made the Parfait pattern out of a soft chambray and added contrasting hand-stitched buttons by Pin Pals to the pockets and large Twinkle buttons for the straps.


I made the Chantilly Dress using an Erin McMorris tree print and some coordinating organic cotton canvas in the palest of pistachio.


We were so excited to finish sewing them that we went for a frolic in the flower garden and celebrated with some Stevie-Nicks-style spinning.

(You might want to click the above image for the extreme fantastic-ness.)