super soft shibori dyed knit wrap top with dramatic bell sleeves

***I’ve moved! Come visit me over at my new blog and online store!***

While I’m working on my new collection, I wanted to share another piece from the archives. I have no idea why I never blogged it, because I love it! I made it out of organic cotton interlock fabric, that I dyed with a folded shibori pattern. I have a few pieces with a similar pattern in my store, here and here.

The fabric is really thick and soft, so it kind of feels like you’re wearing pajamas, which is A-OK with me. Just have to be sure not to knock anything over with these mega-sleeves!

My new work will be available in a few weeks. If you want to know when it’s ready, be sure to join my email list here! And of course you can check out what I have currently available in my store here!

Patchwork Tamarack Jacket

Zoinks!  I didn’t intend to take such a long break from this blog!  Is anyone still out there???

Just in case you are still reading, here is a new completed garment!  It’s a Grainline Studio Tamarack Jacket!

Well, technically, it’s not really a “new” garment.  I have a backlog of completed garments from the past three years that I haven’t blogged.  I completed this Tamarack Jacket last January.

I have a ton of fabric scraps saved from previous projects and I thought a patchwork Tamarack would look really cool.  Some of my scraps are from my hand dyed fabrics and some of them are solids that I purchased.  I decided to go with shades of blue because…I like shades of blue…

It took quite a while to piece all of the scraps together, but I was very happy with the result.

I used organic cotton batting as a filler and navy organic cotton broad cloth for the lining and binding.

I hand quilted the jacket using navy blue sashiko thread.  This was my first time quilting and I instantly became obsessed with it!  I finished my first quilt after this jacket, but I’ll save that for another post.

Needless to say, I love this pattern!  The one change I made was to blend the hem into a continuous line from front to back at the side seam, instead of doing the curved edges that the original pattern has.  Also, I really need to add the pockets.  I was a little impatient to wear the jacket, so once it was mostly done, I figured pockets could wait, but I sorely miss them.

That’s it for now!  I promise I won’t stay away so long this time!

 

Ice Dyed Lark Tee

Hello!  I’m back with a backlog of garments to post!

First up is the Lark Tee from Grainline Studio.

I really like Grainline’s patterns.  They are basic in the best way.  Classic and minimalist, but not boring.  I usually dye my own fabric and I tend to stick to simpler shapes to let the fabric do the talking.

For this top, I ice dyed organic cotton jersey.  This was my first foray into ice dyeing and I am obsessed!!!

Fabric scrunched up in a basket with ice on top, sprinkled with dye.

Ice dyeing is pretty easy, you just need fabric, powdered dye and ice (duh!).  There are a lot of tutorials about how to do it online, I followed the one on Dharma Trading’s website.  The fabric came out awesome!

Finished fabric drying on the rack.

As far as the Lark Tee pattern, I made a straight size 14 and I didn’t make any adjustments to the pattern.  I think next time I will go down a size because the 14 feels a little too big, but the proportions of the tee are good.

I used my serger to sew the majority of the tee together and I used a jersey needle in my straight stitch machine to do the hems and to top-stitch around the neck binding.  Before I hemmed the sleeves and body, I serged the edges to keep them neat, then pressed them up and stitched in place.

I will definitely make this pattern again and DEFINITELY do more ice dyeing!

My measurements for reference:

Height: 5′ 5″

Bust: 41.5″

Waist: 33.5″

Hips: 41.5″

Pattern: Grainline Studio Lark Tee – size 14

Fabric: Organic cotton jersey

Organic Cotton Shibori Linden Sweatshirt

I made a sweatshirt!  It’s the Linden Sweatshirt from Grainline Studio and I LOVE IT!!!  I’m relatively new to sewing knits and this is my first sweatshirt.  I really can’t wait for the cold weather, I’ll definitely be making more of these.

I made a size 16, because I wanted the fit to be a bit oversized, and the only alterations I made to the pattern were to shorten the sleeves about 2″.  I think next time I will widen the neckband just a tad, but that’s just my personal preference.  I really loved working with this pattern.

I used organic cotton sweatshirt fleece, that I shibori dyed, and it is the softest, coziest fabric I have ever sewn with.  I’ve been trying out some organic fabrics lately, and so far I’ve been very impressed.  Maybe it’s psychological, but the organic cotton fabrics I’ve bought so far have felt softer than the standard cottons I’ve used in the past.

Just hangin’ at the boat yard.  Ahoy matey!

I don’t know why, but I’ve always shied away from sewing knits.  Making basics like tee shirts or sweatshirts was weirdly intimidating to me.  They seemed like they would require special factory equipment and I was more comfortable with a needle and thread.  My specialization at FIT was tailoring and there was something very calming about all that precise basting, stitching and pressing.

I’m so glad that I took the plunge and bought a serger, though!  Being able to make basics, in addition to my more fancy pieces, is very exciting!

Jesse knows what I’m talking about.

My measurements for reference:

Height: 5′ 5″

Bust: 41.5″

Waist: 33.5″

Hips: 41.5″

Pattern: Grainline Studio Linden Sweatshirt – size 16

Fabric: Organic cotton sweatshirt fleece