Halla Patterns Hollie Sweater and Cardigan

I tested the Hollie Sweater and Cardigan last month for Halla Patterns. I love sweaters and cardigans, but when I was testing this pattern, I had spring fever. So I made the short sleeve version and it's been too cold for me to wear the ones I made. That darn Groundhog was WRONG!

Like all Halla Patterns, this one is packed with options. This Hollie is the regular shawl color with it sewn closed. I used Purple Cactus Flower Tactel and Purple Tactel Rib knit from Zenith & Quasar Fabric. In my sewing room these matched more perfectly than they do in these photos. I'm tempted to carry this to work and see how it looks under the fluorescent lights before I actually wear it to work. If nothing else, I'll take this apart and make two new ones.

This Hollie is the regular shawl collar with a button closed front. You can leave this completely open in the front, but I did not find that to be a figure flattering look on me. The button closure I did is fake - I merely sewed the buttons on top through both layers.

This Hollie is made with a super stretchy coral french terry. Once upon a time I bought an entire bolt of about 20 yards of this french terry for only $5 because it was dirty. I washed it a dozen times and was not able to get it all completely clean. So I have to fussy cut when I use it. But I absolutely love the color and it feels so good.

I made my final Hollie right after I got a haircut and color! This Hollie has the fold over shawl collar with the button closure. All of my Hollies have a bottom band, but you can make the Hollie without a bottom band and leave it completely open for a cardigan!

I made this Hollie with cotton lycra with a cotton spandex for the bands and shawl collar.

The print on my Hollie is rain drops. I'm ready for the spring rains and flowers to bloom.

Here's a look at all the options in the Hollie. The Hollie is on sale for 20% off through 03/09. Get 20% off all PDF patterns in your cart with the code HOLLIE through 03/09 too!


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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 Pattern Company Posh Top

I first made a Posh Top from George + Ginger about this time last year. I only remember because it was forecasted to snow and I made a Posh Top with snowflake printed fabric.

 Thankfully this time there isn't any snow in our forecast. But I had put the Posh Top on my sewing list at the beginning of the month. I'm just now getting around to blogging about it and getting photos.

I used a cotton lycra for this Posh Top. It has a feather and leaf design on it that I think transitions great from winter to spring.

I modified my Posh Top to be a simple turtleneck. The pattern calls for a separate piece on the shoulders with a cute faux button detail. I really love the details in the Posh Top, but I just wanted a plain solid front for this one.

I cut my front piece out with the shoulder pieces overlapping at the seam allowance on the front bodice piece to create a solid front.

I just love the sleeves on the Posh Top and think it gives it a sophisticated look.

The Posh Top is a great piece for a winter wardrobe and can be made with a variety of fabrics. I'm thinking I need one in velvet and another in a sweater knit. The Posh Top is on sale for the month of January. Winter will be here awhile longer. Plenty of time to make a few to enjoy during the cold weather.

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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.

5 out of 4 Mabel Ruffle Cowl

I recently had the pleasure to test the Mabel Ruffle Cowl for 5 out of 4 Patterns. I love cowl neck tops and I really love tops that are swingy as they help to disguise my swollen belly caused by autoimmune gastritis. The Mabel Ruffle Cowl has both of these things and the top is pure love.

The Mabel features a high - low hem that can be made with or without a ruffle.

To prevent the Mabel from looking frumpy, you will need to make sure you make it the proper length. You want the ruffle in the front to start about the belly button and in the back, it should start mid to upper butt.

 I'm 5' tall and removed 3" from the length and the back ruffle starts about mid butt on me.

The Mabel can be made with or without the cowl. It's important to make the Mabel with a drapey knit so that the cowl is not too bulky and the top can drape beautifully.

The Mabel has short, 3/4, and long sleeve options. I removed 2" from the sleeve length and cut at the 3/4 length sleeve cut line and I ended up with almost long sleeves. My sleeves are not hemmed in these photos. I folded my sleeves up to a 3/4 length for these photos.

I wanted long sleeves initially, but had run out of fabric for long sleeves. So after I took these photos, I added a cuff to my sleeves to keep them long. 

 Below is a photo of the first Mabel that I made. This Mabel is too long on me and looked extremely unflattering from the back. I'm trying to decide what I want to do with this Mabel - 1) take the ruffle off and just hem it; 2) take the ruffle off then remove 3" from the top and reattach the ruffle; or 3) give it to my mother. I'm leaning towards option 1 or 3 and 2 sounds like more work than I want to do.

 The Mabel comes in Womens and Kids sizes. My friend Sharon (Sweet Mama Life) also tested the Mabel in the Womens and Kids sizes. The patterns are on sale for $7.95 each. Buy the Womens and Kids and get an additional $2 off!

Sharon and I met up at the Dallas Fabric District to shop and we both wore our Mabel's so we could get photos together. Well, someone forgot to bring a memory card for her camera and wasn't able to take any photos. Oops.

The Womens and Kids Mabel is on sale through November 11th.

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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 Bamboo Spandex Jersey and a Hack to the Halla Sunny Day

Nature's Fabrics is having a sale on Bamboo Spandex Jersey! It's 15% off through September 16th! You will not find a wider selection of bamboo spandex jersey anywhere - they have so many solids and some gorgeous prints.

Are you ready for fall? I know I am. This Autumn Fox print is so adorable and perfect for fall sewing.

The bamboo spandex jersey was just perfect for the new Halla Patterns Women's Sunny Day Top & Dress.

The Autumn Fox is paired with the Soft Olive bamboo spandex jersey.

I also used the Soft Olive bamboo spandex jersey for this pattern hack to the Sunny Day.

I used a woven scrap I had in my stash for the yoke. Instead of cutting 4 yoke pieces, I cut two and cut them on a fold where the cut edge would be on the yoke for the center of the top.

 I also decided to add a yoke to the back of the top as well. For this I drew a line on the back pattern piece about 4" from the shoulder seam. I then traced the upper bodice piece and added 1/2" to the bottom where a drew my line. I then folded the back bodice on the line I drew. I cut my two yokes with the top bodice piece I made. I then decided to have gathers on my bottom bodice piece, so I folded my fabric to use the remaining width after cutting my front piece and placed the back bodice as far from the fold as I could. I then cut on an imaginary line from the fold to my piece. I gathered the top of the back bodice and attached it to the back yoke.

 I really loved how this came out! I plan to make a few more this way.  I also want to note that I had only 1 yard of the Autumn Fox and 1 yard of the Soft Olive bamboo spandex jersey. It's possible to get a size 10/12 graded to 14/16 hips out of a yard if you are short like me!

I then immediately had to make another hacked Sunny Day all with knit.

For this one, I used fabric that I designed. This is my Ernst Haeckel Bats at Golden Hour print from Spoonflower on Modern Jersey.

I used a Dark Brown Rayon Spandex for the yoke and sleeves.

I really love the curved hem on the Sunny Day.

 Check out all the amazing bamboo spandex jersey fabrics on sale at Nature's Fabrics HERE. There are 139 options! The bamboo spandex jersey is amazingly soft and the Soft Olive and Autumn Fox are a nice heavy weight at 240 and 245 gsm respectively. Bamboo spandex jersey is perfect for making apparel. It has very minimal shrinkage and wear well without pilling. The sale ends on September 16th! No code needed, prices are shown already discounted.

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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 Women's Sunny Day Top & Dress

The newest Halla Pattern is my favorite thing to wear right now. It's the Sunny Day Top & Dress for Women. The girls version has been around for awhile and everyone has been asking for an adult version and Samantha finally made it! I loved it so much that I made 5 during testing. I'll show you the three I made "per the pattern". Later, I'll make a new blog post to show you my hacks.

First off, the Sunny Day has a shirt length, tunic length, and two dress lengths. I made the shirt length on all 3. I made this one with the cutest fox bamboo spandex jersey from Nature's Fabrics.

If you didn't notice, the Sunny Day has a stylish split yoke. There's an option to add a trendy pussy bow to the neckline, string ties, or you can even add a hook & eye closure if you want.

The yoke if perfect for using those beautiful woven scraps that you just can't bear to part with. I used a remnant of a beautiful Ivy Jane print that I got at the Dallas Fabric District for the yoke on this top. The remnant was barely big enough to cut the yoke from. It was one of those fabrics that I bought with no good reason other than I thought it was too beautiful to leave behind. I'm so happy to be able to put it into a top that I'll wear over and over again.

The body of this Sunny Day is made with Dark Jade Rayon Spandex from Made Whimsy.

The Sunny Day has two sleeve styles (puff or fitted), each with 3 length  options (short, 3/4, and long), and 3 different ways to finish the sleeve (hemmed, elastic, or banded). I used the 3/4 length puff sleeve for this top and the foxy top. On this top I finished the sleeves with elastic. The foxy one has bands.

In addition, the Sunny Day has two hem options - curved or straight. I chose straight for the one below and curved for this jade and the foxy versions.

This top was my "toile" that I made with some poly jersey knits I had picked up at the Fabric district. I wanted to use something that I liked, but wouldn't be in tears if it looked horrible. I really loved it from the moment I tried it on for "fit" photos and was wishing I had been more careful with my pattern placement and lining up the design at the side seams. But I'll still wear this alot.

This is the long sleeve with a band. And below is the only photo I have that kinda shows the back. I really love that I can make the Sunny Day with a print and a solid and it still looks like a cohesive piece and not like I just ran out of fabric.

Speaking of fabric requirements - I found that I could make the 3/4 length sleeve version of the Sunny Day with 1 yard of 60" wide knit if I'm careful with my cutting layout. But - please not that I am 5' tall and my 3/4 length sleeves are shorter than the pattern by about 2". The length of my shirt is also about 2" shorter than the pattern.

The pattern is on sale through September 9th. Get 20% off all PDF patterns in your cart with the code SUNNYDAY at checkout. Buy it HERE!

Stay tuned for my Sunny Day hacks!

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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.

Duck Butt Designs Anna Top

Sometimes I love to grab a quick and simple pattern for instant gratification. The Duck Butt Designs Anna Top was the perfect pattern to give me that instant gratification on Sunday. My mom and mother-in-law were visiting and as soon as they left, I had laundry to do. With company over I had not had a chance to touch my sewing machine and was dying to sew up a top to go with a pair of pants I made recently. So between loads of laundry, I was able to whip up a Anna Top.

This was my first time making the Anna Top. I bought the Anna Top pattern right when it came out. My primary reason to buy it, was that it came with leggings. Duck Butt Designs patterns always fit me great and I knew their leggings would too. I've made them several time, but had yet to make the Anna Top.

I have a horrible habit of buying patterns and never making them. I printed out the Anna last week with the intent to make it soon using this gorgeous bamboo lycra from Sew Big Fabrics. I received this print in the mail the same day I got an order of Tactel from Zenith & Quasar Fabric.

This print matched 4 colors of Tactel that I bought. I made the Designer Stitch Shakti Jersey Pants with my Tactel. Yes - all my Tactel became pants. These are the Enamel Blue pair I made.  I love the high-lo hemline of the Anna Top - it covers by behind!

I'm 5' tall and took 1.5 inches from the length of the Anna Top. There is not a lengthen/shorten line on the Anna, but I made one a little below the bust. If I was to wear the Anna with leggings, I might add that 1.5" back to the length.

Now another confession - I didn't read the instructions. I did hem the sleeves before sewing the side seams. I hemmed the bottom last. I haven't looked, but I'm thinking it would be best to hem the bottom before sewing the side seams as well. I'll do that on my next one.

I love how my Anna Top turned out! I need to make a few more. I'm starting to think about what I'm going to pack for my upcoming cruise, and think this will be a winner.

The Anna Top comes with the Long Leg Runners (Leggings) for $9.50. Both patterns are fabulous! I'm kind of sad I hadn't tried the Anna Top before now. I love this top and it's perfect to finish out the hot summer in. If you have never bought a Duck Butt Designs pattern before, they each come with a recipe! The first thing I look at in a Duck Butt pattern is the recipe - and the one in this pattern sounds delicious!

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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.