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Lou Box Dress 1 // Sewing For Women

Wednesday, February 21, 2018

Lou Box Dress 1 // Sewing For Women

Happy mid-week friends!!

Lou Box Dress 1 // Sewing For Women
I am so super excited to share today's project with you. I made the Lou Box Dress 1 as part of a week long series over at Imagine Gnats, featuring both the Lou Box DRESS patterns!

Lou Box Dress 1 // Sewing For Women
I made the sweatshirt dress of my dreams. I mean, a sweatshirt that you can wear to church!? Yep, that's basically what it is. And it pairs equally well with leggings and sneakers for my everyday life. Trust me, I want to wear this dress, every day!

Lou Box Dress 1 // Sewing For Women

Head HERE to read all the details and the changes I made to the pattern. You don't want to miss this one!

Joy Jacket Pattern // Sewing For Women

Monday, February 19, 2018

Joy Jacket Pattern // Sewing For Women

Today is the day!! The highly anticipated Joy Jacket Pattern by Chalk and Notch released today!

**GIVEAWAY! Be sure to read all the way to the end and enter the rafflecopter to enter for a chance to win your own copy of the pattern!**

Making a jacket gives one all the feels normally, but the story behind this jacket makes it even more beautiful. You'll have to be sure to check out THIS POST to read more about it.

Joy Jacket Pattern // Sewing For Women

The instant I saw the first sneak peek, I knew this jacket needed to be in my life. What I didn't know, was just exactly how much a lightweight drapey jacket would fill a hole in my wardrobe! I tend to be more of a cardigan wearer in the winter, but often times a cardigan just doesn't cut it during the winters here, even if they are on the milder side. 

Enter in the Joy Jacket. I made mine in Tencel Twill for the main fabric and cotton lawn for the bodice lining. Both of these fabrics are from La Mercerie. I used a rayon crepe that I had stashed from LA Finch for the sleeves, since it's necessary to use a slippery fabric for the sleeve lining so you can easily slide it over a base layer. This combo of fabrics provides the perfect amount of warmth that can carry me all the way from fall to spring, with the exception of a few colder winter days here and there. 

The pattern comes with 2 views. View A being the version I chose to sew, with a beautiful collar and square pockets. View B features a hood and angled pockets. Both views include a full zip front and optional drawstrings at the hem and neckline, the pockets are interchangeable. 

Joy Jacket Pattern // Sewing For Women

I'm basically head over heels in love with tencel twill, so I knew I had to use it to make this jacket. It is the perfect weight and the drape is absolutely incredible. The color I used is Slate Gray, but it definitely reads blue. If you'll notice, the zipper I used is medium gray and it blends in perfectly. So this color is somewhere in between gray and blue and I LOVE it. *Silly side note: the walls in my kitchen are also gray/blue, the same way this jacket is. They look blue until you look at them up against my gray dining room walls, then it blends together.* I guess I am just drawn to this color in all areas of my life! Haha.

A bit of a note on using tencel twill; I chose to cut it out in a single layer. This added a big chunk of time to the project, but I am SO happy I did it this way, because it made sewing the jacket a breeze and all of the pieces fit together perfectly. Like any rayon fabric, it is quite shifty when laying it out and cutting, so getting everything laying smoothly, multiple times and cutting each piece individually did definitely take a long time, but it was totally worth it all.

Joy Jacket Pattern // Sewing For Women

I love the outside of this jacket so much, but the lining, I have to say... It just makes my heart sing! I used THIS COTTON LAWN, called Exquisite Stems and it was the perfect compliment to the main fabric. As you can see, the sleeves are a contrast fabric as well, and as I mentioned before, this is because lawn is not slippery enough to use for the sleeves. It would make getting the jacket on and off quite difficult. I did not plan this part well when I purchased my fabrics, so I shopped my stash and luckily found this large dot rayon crepe fabric in the perfect complimenting colors to use for the sleeves. It was another happy accident that made me love the finished product just a little bit more.

I also added another small patch pocket to the lining. I'm a mom, so I'm always toting around an extra tissue or small toy, plus I always like to keep my lip balm handy and this is a nice way to conceal the little added bulk.

Joy Jacket Pattern // Sewing For Women

I truly cannot get over the beautiful design of this jacket! I just absolutely LOVE the shape of the collar!

And the fit is perfect as well. In the pattern, there is a large seam allowance included in the outer sleeve seam. This is to allow custom fitting in the sleeves. I ended up letting my sleeve seams out 1/4". Next time I will probably even do 3/8" - 1/2" just for a little more added room. This part will be individual to each person, so it is recommended to sew up a quick muslin to check the fit. And if you are using a tencel/rayon twill, I would definitely personally recommend it as well. I sewed the sleeve seam first as per the pattern and then had to let it out and you can see the original stitching line if you look closely. So... Do as I say, not as I do. ;)

I also shortened the bodice and the sleeves by 1 inch. I am 5'3", for reference. Otherwise everything else is sewn up exactly as per the pattern, in a straight size 6.

Joy Jacket Pattern // Sewing For Women

Joy Jacket Pattern // Sewing For Women

Joy Jacket Pattern // Sewing For Women

I just realized I only have one photo of my hands out of my pockets to show the sleeve length. Haha, I do love pockets, but I'll work on that little detail in the future!

Joy Jacket Pattern // Sewing For Women

Joy Jacket Pattern // Sewing For Women

I had never bagged a lining before, but the pattern instructions make it super easy and the finishing details are perfection. There is not a single exposed seam in this entire jacket. 

Joy Jacket Pattern // Sewing For Women

Joy Jacket Pattern // Sewing For Women

Since this pattern also uses notions and hardware not used as frequently, I thought I'd link to the places I bought all of my supplies from. These are not affiliate links, I'm just passing on the info. The links will take you to the product page.

Fabric:
Tencel Twill: La Mercerie
Cotton Lawn Lining: La Mercerie
Rayon Crepe Sleeve Lining: LA Finch (this exact one is no longer available, but they have a large selection of rayons that would work well)

Tricot Interfacing: Nancy's Notions
Metal Zipper: Wawak
Grommets: Wawak (I actually bought mine from Amazon, but wasn't super pleased, I think these will be a better option for my next one. I've already purchased them and they look good)
Woven Label: Dutch Label Shop

Other things that came in handy while sewing:
Tailor's Ham - I used this frequently.
Press Cloth - This was a must. I used it every time I pressed on top of the tencel twill. Otherwise, the heat left shiny marks.
Sleeve board - I'm not sure how I would have gotten the creases out of the sleeves without it!

Would you like to win your own copy of the pattern?? Gabriella has graciously given me a copy to give to one of you! I've made it super easy, just leave a comment on this post and record your entry in the rafflecopter. The giveaway will remain open through Sunday 2/25, 11:59pm EST. Good luck!!

Nikko Tops // Sewing For Women

Thursday, February 8, 2018



Hi friends!! I'm so excited to show you my Nikko Tops I made during testing! The Nikko Top and Dress Pattern is a fitted, mock turtleneck top.

It comes with 4 views. Long sleeve top, sleeveless top, long sleeve and sleeveless dress with hem splits.

This top is the perfect layering piece! I love, love, love, the long sleeve version layered under my Blackwood Cardigan. It is perfect for our colder winter we are having this year!


Actually, they both look great under my Blackwood!!


This pattern is perfect for tucking into high-waisted styles. Like the Lander Pants!


But I'm pretty sure that my favorite way to wear this sleeveless version is going to be with my Emerson Shorts that I absolutely live in during the summer. 


The recommended fabrics for this pattern are rib knits and bamboo knits with at least 70% stretch. This is important because the stretch is needed to get the top over your head. 

I used a bamboo knit for the long sleeve version and I love the buttery softness of it! I found it to be much more close fitting than the rib knit, which makes sense because rib knits do tend to have a lot more give. For future versions, I will look for lovely rib knits, I'm just loving how this pattern looks in a rib! I also love it in the bamboo, and the next time I make one up, I'll probably add in a little more ease through the waist, just for personal preference. 

Kelli did make a few small changes to the pattern since these tester versions. She lengthened the sleeves slightly, added more ease to the neckband and also added an inch more ease in the hips. For the sleeveless version she also added a bit more coverage to the front arm hole.

So in summary, this pattern is a great wardrobe staple!! I can't wait to sew up a few more and make a couple of dresses as well. I've got the fabric all ready to go!






ps. The morning I decided to take these photos it was 30 degrees! So the look on my face is "I'm freezing!!" and I also forgot about my non-matching fitness tracker. Lol. Oops!

Both of the fabrics I used for testing were purchased from fabric.com.
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