Corduroy York Pinafore // Sew Bibs

Corduroy York Pinafore // Sew Bibs

• Friday, March 15, 2019

Happy Friday!

I am so excited to share with you my first completed make for the #SEWBIBS challenge!! Woo-hoo!! (If you don't know what I'm talking about, see this post HERE)

I purchased the York Pinafore pattern during release week and thought that since it seemed like such a quick make I'd get to it immediately. Well, that definitely didn't happen. It seems like it rarely does! :)

When Teri asked me if I'd like to co-host a challenge with her, of course I was very excited about it. Then we started brainstorming ideas for what the challenge theme should be and I sort of selfishly suggested we sew overalls and pinafores. Thus, #SEWBIBS was born! And I'm the happiest of them all for the push to sew some of the amazing patterns out there!

To start the ball rolling, I opted for what I knew would be the most instant gratification and sewed the York Pinafore, which has definitely taken the sewing community by storm. And for good reason!! It's so fluffy!! cute!!

It is really a quick sew. Though at one point it may start to feel like you are indeed sewing on miles of bias tape, but I promise, it's only yards. ;) And it really does go quickly!

I will admit, that part of my hesitation in tackling this project of my own accord was that I wasn't 100% sure that I would love the cocoon shape on my body. I am the opposite of a pear, with my hips being proportionately the smallest part of me, so I wasn't sure that ADDING volume to that area would work for me.

I hemmed and hawed a little bit about which size to cut at the hips, but ended up cutting out a straight size med, which all of my measurements fit into. I then followed Helen's tip and baste fitted the side seams before going too far with things and I'm so glad I did!

When I first put it on as a straight size med, I was definitely not loving it! It did indeed add bulk to my bottom half and I felt like I wasn't seeing me in the mirror. So I kept adding basting lines and more basting lines until I had taken it in to more of a pencil skirt shape. The pencil skirt shape was too tight, but I knew that I could safely cut the side seams down to a size small and go from there.

That's exactly what I did, and then attached my pockets and baste fitted once more at a straight size small and it was perfect!! I loved the shape and the way I felt in it so much!

And speaking of pockets, you've probably noticed they are not a shape included in the pattern. This was a really simple mod, I just straightened out the round pockets and slimmed + shortened them ever so slightly. They are huge! And so so fun! I got this idea from Tiahna's York that she blogged about HERE.

I did have to make a length adjustment since I'm only 5'3" and the pattern is drafted for a height of 5"6". I took 1 inch of length out of the bodice and split it between the 2 lengthen/shorten lines included. I also shortened the hem length 3/4".

I absolutely love this pinafore paired with this fun balloon sleeve top! It's a top that I made by hacking the Lana Top Pattern. It's a total hack job, haha, but I had decent confidence that it would turn out. My drafting skills are pretty limited, so I'm not sure if I can share an actual tutorial with you... We shall see!

The fabric I used for the pinafore is a wide wale non-stretch corduroy in Rose from Stonemountain & Daughter Fabrics. I love this fabric so much! I have limited experience working with corduroy, so I searched the web for some tips and found so many from this awesome community! I especially liked these three posts; 1 // 2 // 3. I found the most interesting thing that in working with it, it really didn't need to be pressed! I feel like that saved so much time in being able to just finger press as I went, especially when applying the bias tape! (I did use my iron to press the bias tape, since I made it from a cute coordinating quilting cotton ;) )

The fabric I used for my top is also from Stonemountain & Daughter Fabrics, it is Robert Kaufman Catalina Knit in white and is a very nice and heavy cotton/spandex. It was the perfect weight and body for a light sweatshirt like I was going for!

Stonemountain & Daughter Fabrics is also a sponsor for #SEWBIBS and they have an active discount code through the rest of the month (ends Mar 31st). Use code SEWBIBS15 to get 15% off all fabrics!

I think I'm almost done spilling all the things here now, so I'll leave you with a second way that I styled my York Pinafore. I feel like this second look is much edgier, and will be great for warmer weather!

I paired it with a rib-knit Nikko Top, which makes the perfect layering piece under so many things.

So there you have it! I could not be more excited about my first #sewbibs make and I'm already off on making the next!

Thanks for stopping by and happy sewing!
~Heidi