New Horizons Bali Blouse Full Back Hack

I loved testing the Bali Blouse for New Horizons. I loved the design and the fit. The open back is a unique feature and great for the summer. But I wanted to wear the Bali in the fall. I thought it would be so cute with a woven top with a knit bottom for the cooler weather - with a solid back.

So I decided to give a full back version a try. It's really easy.

You do everything the same for the top - except change the back piece.

Fold your fabric in half. Place the back piece on the fabric with the opening near the folded edge. I did mine with just a 0.5" gap from the fabric edge. I lined up the top of the piece to the edge of my fabric and made sure the grain line was straight on the pattern piece to the fabric.

This is what it looked like cut out.

I then marked on the fabric the line where the two piece would have overlapped - This would be where I would gather the fabric. This ended up not being a wide enough gathering area and I drew another mark 1" further out on both sides.

On the back bodice yoke I measured the center point and marked it - then marked a spot 2" to each side of the center. I gathered the back piece between the marks I made above and matched them up between the marks I made on the yoke.

Here is what one of my full back hacks looked like.

The sleeves and the yoke are knit - This is the Verse from Star Dust Textile company. It is currently at preorder (Actually it goes up on August 1st).

The body of the top is a lightweight poly jersey from Super Textiles in Dallas. I think I paid $3/yard for it. The color is beautiful and it's so soft.

You can see it a little here.

Full back!

I made another with the fabric in my photos demonstrating how to cut the full back - but I haven't worn it to take photos yet. I made that one sleeveless (another pattern hack).  I'll be sure to add them soon.

KZJO Studio - Plum

I always love testing for Kaysie at KZJO Studio. Her patterns are well drafted and go together perfectly. I tested the Plum awhile back and had plans to make another version in July when the Plum was the Pattern of the Month. And before I knew it - it was the last day of July.

Today is the last day to get the Plum on sale for $6.50. This versatile top is great on it's own or perfect to wear under a jacket. The neck line scoops slightly lower in the back. You can make the Plum in 1 piece or 2 (with a seam at the shoulders). The pattern is intended for light weight wovens, but could be made easily with a knit.

I decided to make mine with 2 pieces. The first step was to sew the front and back together across the shoulders with a French seam. You make a French seam by first sewing the two piece together with wrong sides together.

You then iron the seam to one side and turn the top wrong sides out. You then Sew the pieces together again enclosing the raw edge from the first seam.

Now make the bias binding for the neckline.

Sew the bias binding on and leave a tail to join with the end once you go almost all the way around.

Join the ends and finish attaching the binding.

You fold the binding in half and fold it to the inside, press, and stitch along the edge.

Then hem the sleeves using a rolled hem. Then sew the sides together and hem the bottom.

Here I am in my Plum.

I bought this fabric at Golden D'or during an inventory sale for 99 cents a yard. It's a lightweight silky fabric - feels like a poly blend.

Here you can see the slightly scooped back.

This is such a cute and simple top to make. The hardest part is the rolled hem - if you don't have a rolled hem foot. I was planning on just hemming my next one with a lace trim.

New Horizons Bali Blouse and Sunset Cami

I recently did a pattern test for New Horizons of the Bali Blouse and Sunset Cami. New Horizons was previously names Terra's Treasures and I posted previously about the Lisse Cowl.

This top is wonderful and has so many options. The pattern can be made in knit or lightweight wovens. There are several sleeve options.

The top is unique in that it has an open tulip style back. The Sunset Cami is perfect to wear under the Bali Blouse.

The Bali Blouse and Sunset Cami are on sale through Monday, August 1st for $8. Buy it HERE.

Here are photos of my Bali Blouse.

This photo shows the open tulips back. I'm wearing a store bought tank top under the Bali Blouse in these photos.

I love the V shaped yoke on this blouse. It adds great detail and you can finished the neckline either by lining the yoke and top stitching or binding the neckline. I lined my yoke.

The blouse also has a slim fit option and a fuller option. I went with the fuller body. The fit is really flattering.

My fabric is a lightweight woven I purchased at Wherehouse Fabric in Dallas for $6/yard. I'm unsure of the content, but it's very soft and silky.

I've already hacked this pattern and made another with a full back. I'll be posting my hack in a few days.

EYMM Christmas in July Blog Tour

Don't miss any of the stops on the EYMM Christmas in July Tour! (Note: the direct links below will not work until their specified date, but feel free to click through and check out other posts on their blogs at any time.)

July 20 - Capture, Craft, and Cook

July 21 - Needles to Say

July 22 - Tales of a Tester

July 23 - Inspinration and Sewing by Ti

July 24 - Adventures With Bubba and Bug and Blessed x Five

July 25 - Roundup post at EYMM

There are only 22 weekends left until Christmas. Start your holiday sewing projects now so you can spend more time with your family during the season! Use code 22WEEKEND to save 22% off ALL patterns in the EYMM shop now through 7/25/16 at 11:59pm PST.

Here I am participating in another Blog Tour for Everything Your Mama Made and More. It's Christmas in July! Are there really only 22 weeks until Christmas? Wow!

For this blog tour, I decided to make a pattern that is perfect for gift giving - the Bowl Cozy and Tortilla Warmer. It's perfect for using up scraps of cotton wovens and left over cotton batting.

These were fairly quick and easy - so I made 2 sets. I love that these are made with all cotton - so you can microwave them and they are completely machine washable.

Here is the first tortilla warmer I made. I used some white double fold bias tape I purchased for the binding. The tortilla warmer is 12 inches in diameter making it large enough for burrito sized tortillas. I only had a small taco sized tortilla.

The Yellow fabric is Menagerie from the Peacock Lane by Violet for Michael Miller. The print below is Historic Tile from Notting Hill by Joel Dewberry for Free Spirit.

The bowl cozy can fit any size or shape bowl.

The square design makes nice large corners for little hands to hold and carry a hot bowl without getting burned

It would also work well for keeping bowls nice and cold too keep ice cream from melting.

For the second set I used Daisy Chain by Amy Butler for Rowan fabrics.

I also used Royal Parrot from the Pernila's Journey line by Tina Givens for Free Spirit. had to take a photo of the bowl cozy without the bowl so you could see the placement of the parrots.

I had fun quilting each piece in a slightly different pattern. You can get as creative and fancy as you want - or you can do a very simple design. But you do need to do some quilting to keep things together.

I figured parrots don't go with every kitchen, so I put them as the inside of the tortilla warmer. For this one, I used some double fold bias tape I had made that was leftover from another project.

These items were fun and easy to make. These would make great gifts to give at Christmas. I love that it can use scraps from other projects.

I hope you enjoyed my post and will visit the other blogs on the tour.

Thanks!