Ellie & Mac Women's Zip It Jacket

It's Wacky Wednesday at Ellie & Mac! This week I'm showing off the Women's Zip it Jacket pattern. I'm not a fan of hoodies, but I made a hooded zip up style jacket 3 years ago and wore it non-stop when it was cool out. After 3 years, it's still great - but I've gotten kind of tired of it. I'm so excited about my Zip It Jacket! Not only is it my favorite color, it's reversible!

I used a green hybrid athletic fabric from Zenith & Quasar. It's a great weight and is a gorgeous green color.

I got my reversible zipper from Jo-ann's. They only had black with gold metal teeth. I really would have loved to have more options, but I didn't feel like ordering online and waiting for another one,

The Zip It Jacket has pockets and I put pockets on the reverse side too.

The inside is a plush brushed poly from Zenith & Quasar. The print is called Secret Garden and is so beautiful!

This is one of my favorite prints and it is regularly offered on different base fabrics every year.

The Zip It Jacket instructions are so easy to follow to make the jacket reversible. It also include directions on making one that is not reversible too. I did order a navy blue separating zipper to make another one, but it will not be reversible.

I hope all my friends and family love my new Zip It Jacket as much as I do. I'll probably be wearing this one for the next 3 years.

One thing to note is that I am 5' tall and did not remove any length from the pattern for my height. I like my jackets this length. I purchased a 24" zipper and took about 1" of teeth out of it for this jacket.

The Women's Zip It Jacket pattern was easy to follow and it fits great. The pattern is on sale through midnight on Wednesday, December 26th for only one dollar!

There are 5 other patterns that are also on sale. See all the Wacky Wednesday sale patterns HERE!
Another one that I love is the I love the 90's dress. Here's one I made.

In addition, all patterns are on sale for $3 through December 31st!

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Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. These links provide me with a small compensation if you make a purchase using my link. There is not cost to you when you do this. My thoughts and opinions given in this blog post are mine.

Halla Patterns Stella Sweater Upcycle

I love the Halla Patterns Stella Pullover and have made so many of them. I went through my closet recently and took out a bunch of sweaters that either no longer fit me or had moth holes in them. I always like to see what I can salvage from sweaters before I put them in a bin to be recycled. I took this coral sweater that is a wool blend that I accidentally shrunk in the washer & dryer, and cut it apart to use on a Stella Pullover.

One of my favorite features of the Stella are the pockets. I love having pockets and these are a great size. I normally add a bottom band to my Stella Pullovers and completely forgot to add one to this top. I haven't decided if I want to seam rip the hem and add one or not.

This length is with 2" removed for my height. I don't think this length as-is is necessarily bad, I'm just used to having a little bit more length.

I used a cotton lycra from Kaynen called Dodo that is a European import I purchased about 3 years ago. I have another sweater upcycle that I used this same fabric on a few years ago.

What I had loved about this sweater was the cute button detail on the collar and sleeves. I was able to keep both and think my upcycle turned out perfect.

I still have the body of the sweater that I'm considering using on another top or using it to add a bottom band to this top. I also have 5 more sweaters that I plan on upcycling too.

Halla Patterns has all of their PDF patterns on sale for 40% off through December 31st. Use the code HOLIDAY for the discount. Shop HERE.

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Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. These links provide me with a small compensation if you make a purchase using my link. There is not cost to you when you do this. My thoughts and opinions given in this blog post are mine.

George & Ginger Drama Dress - Tunic Hack

I made my first Drama Dress from George + Ginger earlier this year when I was headed to NYC to see G + G hit the Fashion Week Runway. I decided it was time to make another. I don't wear dresses, so I decided to hack the Drama Dress into a fun tunic.

All I did was take three inches off the length before hemming. I cut this Drama Dress out per the pattern. But when I tried it on, I just didn't like the length on me with leggings.

I completely eyeballed cutting straight off the bottom on my cutting table. I'm pretty sure it's not perfect, but I love it.

The Drama Dress has the option to add a bow tie. I cut the bow tie out, but decided I wanted to keep it separate.

Here is my Drama Dress sans necktie. My intention was to take photos of this Drama Dress being worn with some mustard jeggings. I had a few minutes to take photos after work one evening and liked how it looked with these pants - so I left them on. However, I forgot to change into brown shoes.

 I made this Drama Dress with 3/4 length sleeves and think it will be perfect to wear into the early spring.

I love the loose and swingy fit of my hacked Drama Dress. I think I may make a few more, but I'll take the time to actually remove the length from my pattern pieces first.

The Drama Dress comes with a ton of options. There are multiple necklines including a collared version and a really cute keyhole neckline. It also has optional pockets!

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Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. These links provide me with a small compensation if you make a purchase using my link. There is not cost to you when you do this. My thoughts and opinions given in this blog post are mine.

Halla Patterns Mirra Raglan

Halla Patterns has a new pattern out and it's the Mirra Raglan with a ton of options!

In testing I made the plainest Mirra Raglan possible. No pockets or other fun features.

But I did use fun fabric! How cute are these kitties in boxes?

The Mirra Raglan is a semi fitted top. I tend to prefer a slightly looser fit to help hide by belly. I already have plans to make a few Mirra Raglans with the cowl and making them about 2 sizes bigger for a slouchy fit.

I love the neckline on the Mirra Raglan. It's got a boatneck like shape that I really love.

When I cut out the Mirra Raglan, I forgot to take length out for my height and ended up cutting 3" off the bottom before I hemmed it.

All Halla pdf patterns are on sale for 40% off with the code HOLIDAY. Click HERE to have the discount automatically added.

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Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. These links provide me with a small compensation if you make a purchase using my link. There is not cost to you when you do this. My thoughts and opinions given in this blog post are mine.

Ellie & Mac To The Point Tunic & Dress

It's Wacky Wednesday at Ellie & Mac! This week I made the To The Point Tunic & Dress.

Just like the name To The Point Tunic & Dress indicates - there are dress and tunic versions. Two tunic lengths and two dress lengths. I made the long tunic.

The To The Point Tunic & Dress also has a fitted version and loose version. I made the loose version, but feel like I could have gone up one size to get a better fit. Mainly because I have a swayback and think a looser fit would help eliminate some of the bunching I have in the back.

I got this fabric from my sweet friend Sharon at Sweet Mama Life. She and I swap fabric scraps all the time. We often buy more fabric than we need for a project and pass along the extras when we are done. We have a cute tote bag that we pass back and forth filled with our remnants.

I think this plaid fabric Sharon gave me was perfect for the To The Point Tunic. The diagonal plaid really accentuates the point.

I think it looks great with my red pants I made about 2 years ago. These are from a pattern from a company that eliminated it's womens patterns a few years ago. They are made with some thick yoga knit that I bought also a few years ago.

The To The Point Tunic was a really quick sew and I'll definitely make more. I think I'll make the shorter tunic length next time and try it one size bigger to see if it helps my swayback issue.

The To The Point Tunic & Dress is on sale for only $1 through Midnight on Wednesday (December 19th). To see all the patterns that are on sale for $1 - click HERE!

In addition, Ellie & Mac has ALL patterns on sale for only $3 through December 31st!

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Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. These links provide me with a small compensation if you make a purchase using my link. There is not cost to you when you do this. My thoughts and opinions given in this blog post are mine.

Itch to Stitch Busan Top

I love testing for Kennis at Itch to Stitch. The newest pattern I tested, the Busan Top, is a new favorite!

The Busan Top is designed to be made with heavier knits. The sleeves won't have as dramatic a flair if you use a lighter knit.

This makes the Busan Top perfect for cotton lycra. It's hard to find patterns for tops that can be made with cotton lycra that are not plain t-shirts or raglans.

Check out these sleeves! The top has narrow shoulder and these big pleated sleeves that look great on all figures. If you have broad shoulders, they are minimized, and if you have narrow shoulders (like me) they add a bit of volume to make them look bigger (and my hips look smaller).

I also love the high neckline. This is the perfect top for cooler weather.

Here's a closer look at the pleats on the sleeve.

I love that the Busan Top is slightly loose. It's a comfortable fit that I feel good in.

Of course I couldn't make just one Busan Top!

Look how gorgeous the sleeve is in this green velvet from Zenith & Quasar!

I love how dressy it feels in this velvet.

I'm tempted to make another one of these tops in velvet. But I'm on a velvet kick lately and want to make everything in velvet. 

I was hoping to make at least one more Busan Top before the pattern released, but time got away from me. I'll definitely be making time to sew another one or two over the holidays.

The Busan Top is on sale for $8 through December 21st! Be sure to check out the release blog post with photos from the other testers. It can be seen HERE! So many testers made fancy holiday worthy versions that are worth seeing.

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Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. These links provide me with a small compensation if you make a purchase using my link. There is not cost to you when you do this. My thoughts and opinions given in this blog post are mine.

Nature's Fabrics Rainbow Sale

Nature's Fabrics is having a sale on all rainbow fabrics! They are currently 15% off through December 21st. When I saw this Rainbow Tie Dye, I knew I needed it to make my mother a top. Good thing she and I are close to the same size - I got to wear it first.

The Rainbow Tie Dye is a lightweight polyester jersey. It is 180 gsm which is perfect for a flowy top.

I made the Love Notions Tidal Top with my Rainbow Tie Dye fabric.

I had the strawberry cotton rib knit from Nature's Fabric that matched the Rainbow Tie Dye perfectly. I used it not only for the neckband, but to also do a small band on the sleeves and to add a piping detail to the front bodice seams.

The Tidal Top has a center back seam which allows you to adjust the pattern for a sway back - which I have. I did my best to stripe match as perfectly as possible.

I probably could have scooped out another 0.5" for my swayback, but it's pretty darn close.

This is the first time I have added a piping detail to the Tidal Top and I really love it. I had to do some pattern finagling to get the stripes to match up on that front bodice seam.

The piping was also done to break up the stripes just enough that you don't notice where they don't match up perfectly. Think of it as an optical illusion.

 I'm wearing my mother's Tidal Top with Greenstyle Creations Chelsea Pants.

I can't wait to give my mom this top. I think she's going to love the Rainbow Tie Dye so much. She loves when I make her tops - especially with tie-dye prints.

Here's a closer look at the Rainbow Tie Dye fabric. Each stripe is two tones and each color is separated by a grey stripe.

Rainbow Fabrics are on sale for 15% off at Nature's Fabrics through December 21st. See all the fabrics on sale HERE!

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Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. These links provide me with a small compensation if you make a purchase using my link. There is not cost to you when you do this. My thoughts and opinions given in this blog post are mine.