Sew Over It Molly Top

When I started sewing I didn't intend that I would make all my clothes but, aside from underwear and the odd cardigan/jumper here and there, it's been ages since I bought clothes from a shop. I'd just rather spend the money on fabric. That's all well and good, but my love of pretty prints and twirly dresses means that the basics in my wardrobe have become somewhat neglected. I'm sure I'm not the only one with that problem, am I? Top spot on the list of things that could do with replacing for me definitely goes to plain t-shirts, which is what led me to make this version of the Sew Over It Molly top.

When Sew Over It released the City Break capsule wardrobe e-book, I liked the look of the Molly top but wasn't really interested in the rest of the patterns (I've seen many other people making lovely versions, but they're just not my style), so I wasn't keen on buying the whole e-book for one t-shirt. I was therefore pleasantly surprised to find that the Molly top/dress pattern is one of the projects included in this year's Mollie Makes Comic Relief Crafternoon magazine (I ordered my copy online from here, but it currently says it's sold out unfortunately).

Serendipitously, I happened to have a t-shirt sized length of lovely jersey from a recent trip to Sewn in Bristol which was originally intended to be another Gable top, but was swiftly reassigned to become a Molly top.

The Molly top is a good staple t-shirt with some nice details (batwing sleeves, curved hem and a flattering neckline finished with a band), which keep it from being boring whilst still not making it overly fussy.

I made a straight size 14, which is the size that matches my measurements. The fit is more relaxed than some t-shirt patterns and there's definitely positive ease around the waist in particular, but it's still fitted enough around the shoulders and bust to keep it from just being baggy. If you like your t-shirts skin-tight though, then Molly probably isn't the one for you.

The pattern was simple to sew thanks to nicely detailed, clear instructions. I had no problems during construction, and for this version I just stuck to the directions in the pattern, apart from using a twin needle instead of a zigzag stitch for topstitching the neckband down and for the hems.

For my next version, I'd make a couple of slight changes. firstly I'd lengthen the sleeves just a touch - probably an inch I think. The sleeves on this one don't look stupidly short, but they are noticeably shorter than my other long-sleeved t-shirts.

I'd also probably remove the curve on the hem and just have a straight bottom edge instead. While the curved hem is a nice feature, I know I'll always wear the top tucked in (it's untucked in some of these photos purely for show-and-tell purposes) so it'll never be seen, making it a bit pointless for me personally.

The jersey I used really is a delight - easy to work with and beautifully comfy to wear. It's Robert Kaufman Laguna jersey, and Sewn currently have it on sale if you're interested in treating yourself. In fact, I like it so much that I've already got my hands on the same fabric in blue. It may also become a Molly top, we'll see!

So there we go! I think you'll have guessed by now that I really like this Molly top, and I can definitely see myself making more in the future. I think this was a good start along the way to rejuvenating some of the previously neglected wardrobe basics. Where do you stand on sewing/buying wardrobe staples?

Jennifer Lauren Bronte Top - Repurpose, Reuse, Refashion

At the start of this year, the one sewing target that I set myself was to get to grip with knit fabrics. I started off quite well by making my Plantain top, but I hadn't done anything else about it since then. Not due to fear or anything, more just because I kept getting distracted by woven fabrics and patterns! Then Jennifer Lauren released the Bronte top, and it reminded me of an old favourite RTW t-shirt of mine so I knew I wanted to make one. It's taken me a couple of months since the release, but better late than never!

I was given the kick start to get sewing the Bronte when I saw that Amy of Sew Amy Sew was hosting Repurpose, Reuse, Refashion month this August. You see, a month or two ago I'd found this jersey maxi dress in one of my local charity shops for the princely sum of £1.75...

When I bought it, I knew I would never wear it as it was - I'm not a massive fan of strapless and Empire line isn't the most flattering shape on me. However, it was in good condition and didn't look like it had been worn much, I loved the colour, the jersey felt nice and soft and the advantage of the Empire line was that I knew the skirt pieces would be big enough for me to put the dress to good use somehow.

I was considering refashioning the dress by adding some straps and possibly extending the shirring round the bust down to waist level to make it more flattering for my shape, but the existing shirring went a bit saggy when I washed the dress so I decided just to cut that off and treat the skirt as a piece of material. There was just enough material for Bronte, so I took that as a sign that it was meant to be!

Anyway, back to Bronte! I really, really like this pattern. Like any knit top, it's obviously really comfy and easy to wear, but the 1940s-inspired shrug style shoulder detail makes it stand out from the crowd and be a little bit different. You might think this would make it more complicated to sew, but it's really not that difficult. The only difference from a normal knit top is that the front and back pieces are connected in a slightly different way, as the back wraps over the front, but although it is different I don't think it's any more complicated.

The neckline also gives you the opportunity to add a bit of extra interest by using a contrast binding or some pretty buttons to secure the shoulders. In my case, I had some star shaped buttons which I was planning to use, but when I tipped out the contents of my button jar this pack of bright buttons that I'd been given for my birthday fell out and I loved the way they looked with the blue so I changed my plans!

I made a straight size 14 with no adjustments. I was sort of treating this version as a (very!) wearable muslin, as given that the material cost me £1.75, I wasn't going to worry too much if it didn't turn out totally perfectly. As it is, I'm pretty happy with the fit so it's all good! I might consider trying to lower the neckline a little bit in a future version to make it even more like my old top, but I like it as it is.

If, like me, you're a bit of a newbie when it comes to sewing with knits, I'd definitely recommend giving the Bronte top a go. As I said above, it probably looks more complicated than it is, but it is actually fairly simple to sew. It's only the second time I've sewn with knits, and the only problem that I had was my twin needle deciding to break for no apparent reason! The instructions are nice and clear, and also include some really helpful tips on choosing your fabric, as well as hints about sewing with knits in general. Also, I don't have a serger/overlocker, so this is proof that you definitely can sew the Bronte using just a normal sewing machine.

As I mentioned in my last post about my Bellini, I do prefer paper patterns to PDFs (not least because my printer sometimes has a mind of its own and decides to print multiple copies of one page instead of printing the page range I'd asked it to, as it did in this case!), but this was another PDF that was no trouble to put together. I really like the fact that the individual pattern pieces are printed on separate groups of pages so you're dealing with manageable numbers of pages to stick together instead of covering the entire floor!

Sewing Bronte went really well and I'm definitely planning on doing more about my aim of sewing with knits now. There'll be more Brontes at some point in the future, and I've also got the Coco and Lady Skater ready to try - I just need to make my mind up about what fabric to use! Has anyone got any favourite sources of knits in the UK? It's always good to have recommendations!

Deer & Doe Plantain T-Shirt

The only real sewing aim I have this year is to get to grips with sewing knits - they make up a massive chunk of what I wear so it doesn't seem to make sense to not be able to use them in my sewing if I'm trying to create a handmade wardrobe. So when Deer & Doe released the free Plantain t-shirt pattern, and announced the Plantain challenge, it seemed like just the incentive I needed to get started on trying to achieve my aim. Here's the result....

I'm pretty happy with the end result - it's a nice simple t-shirt and fits me well. The pattern flares out at the hips, which isn't necessarily a shape I would usually chose but it's comfy, and can easily be tucked in if you want a more fitted look. The neckline is the right balance of being low enough without being too low, on me at least!

I don't have an overlocker (yet! I'm very tempted to invest in one though) so I was just reliant on my sewing machine for making this, and it wasn't always as up for the challenge as I was, but I solved the teething problems and managed to get the t-shirt made without too much stress. 

I finished the neckline band and hems with a twin needle, which was the part that I was most nervous about before I started, but my sewing machine seemed far happier about sewing the jersey with a twin needle than with just a single needle (even though both the single and twin were stretch ball point needles and were the same size!) so that went quite smoothly, and I'm pleased with the results...

Definitely not perfect, but not too bad for a first go!

The only change I made from the pattern was not including the elbow patches - purely because I couldn't find any material which I thought would be a nice contrast to the star print. The patches are a nice extra detail though so they'll definitely be included in a future version at some point.

The fabric is a cotton jersey which I got from Fabric Rehab, it's lovely and soft so super comfy to wear, and I love star prints (it's a miracle this is the first item of clothing I've made featuring stars!) so I couldn't resist. When I first tried it on, I did worry slightly that the print might make it look a bit like it was meant to be a pyjama top, or than my t-shirt had been painted by Emma Bridgewater, but quickly came to the conclusion that I like it so it doesn't matter!

I think this would be a great pattern for anyone else who wants to start sewing with knits - it's simple, comes with good instructions and it's free so you can't go far wrong! There are also some great customisations of the pattern appearing over in the Deer & Doe Flickr group, and I think I might have to use them as inspiration for a future version of Plantain. All in all, a good first step towards achieving my goal for the year!