Stripy Emmeline Tee

This is the second Emmeline Tee I have made. The first one I made as a secret Santa gift for a friend, which I wrote about here. But this one I have made for myself :-)

The Emmeline Tee pattern includes 3 versions all of which can be made in woven or knit fabrics, detailed instructions for which are included. I made version 3 for my first attempt at the Emmeline, but this time I decided to make version 1 with the kimono sleeves and turned up cuffs. As with version 3 of the pattern, version 1 only has 3 pattern pieces (front, back, and neckband) so it is pretty quick to cut out the fabric. I cut out a size S, but lengthened it by a good 2 inches. When I made my first Emmeline Tee I found that it only just sat on the top of my jeans waistband. It drives me mad when I have to keep tugging tops down all the time, so for me I wanted to make sure it had enough length in the body that I wouldn't have to do that.

© 2016 Jennifer Richardson

The fabric I used was a black and white striped jersey with a metallic silver thread running through it. I bought it from Stuarts Fabrics on Leicester market for something like £4 per metre. I didn't really pay any attention to what the composition of the fabric was. I tend to buy fabric by how it looks and feels as opposed to paying much attention to what it says on the label (besides the price) and when buying off the market there aren't really any labels attached to the fabrics so I never really know exactly what I'm buying! But with Stuarts Fabrics a lot of the fabrics have been used by retailers and therefore tend to be reasonable quality. The fabric I bought is lightweight jersey and feels nice and soft so works well for a t-shirt.

© 2016 Jennifer Richardson

I started by overlocking all the raw edges of my pattern pieces apart from the neckline. Then it was just a case of sewing the front and back together at the shoulder seams and then up the side seams, attaching the neckband and finishing the hems using a twin needle. For the sleeve cuffs the instructions tell you to hand-stitch these in place. However, I'm not terribly patient when it comes to hand stitching so I finished those by top stitching with a twin needle too! As a finishing touch I added 2 buttons to the cuffs. I found these buttons in John Lewis and thought they were pretty and would finish my t-shirt off nicely. I like them, but my husband thinks they stick up too much!

© 2016 Jennifer Richardson

I was really pleased with the finished result and once again I found the pattern straightforward to follow so I managed to make this t-shirt up in an evening after work! I tried to match the stripes up at the side seams…something you’d think wouldn't be too tricky to do with stripes. In some places I was successful, in other places not so! But the main thing is that the stripes run horizontal and I was very pleased with the stripes around the neckline and neckband.

Little Black Dress – Burda 6829

I made this dress before Christmas, but hadn’t gotten around to posting it. This was my first dress using stretch fabric! I bought some black knit fabric on Leicester market a while back that has been sitting in a box waiting to be used along with Burda’s 6829 pattern that I bought with the fabric in mind.

© 2016 Jennifer Richardson

I made it with long sleeves, but the length of view A and I straightened the hem of the underneath panel so that just the top layer swooshes up as I thought it would make it a little less evening-y. And I'm pretty pleased with it!

The fabric was quite easy to work with and thankfully I didn’t have to do much in the way of unpicking as trying to unpick black stitches on a black knit was a little tricky!

When sewing with woven fabrics your finished garment measurements should be larger than your body measurements (referred to as positive ease) to allow breathing room to move around and sit down. In contrast, stretch fabrics have more give in them so to make a garment that is close fitting with stretch fabrics the finished garment measurements should be smaller than your body measurements, which is referred to as negative ease. My bust and waist measurements put me at a size 14. The finished garment measurements for this size were only ½” smaller than my measurements, which I didn’t think was a lot and I wanted my dress to fit snuggly. So I decided to cut the size 12 instead. My hip measurements put me at a size 18…yes I am pear shaped! So when tracing the pattern I graded out from a size 12 at the waist to size 18 on the hip. I didn’t go down a size on the hip as I didn’t want it to be too clingy in that area.

Before I started sewing any seams, I overlocked all my edges. When sewing the seams I used the stretch stitch zig zag that looks like a lightning bolt. I did buy a ballpoint needle…but I forgot to use it! I don’t think my seams suffered too much for it though. All the hems were finished using a twin needle.

© 2016 Jennifer Richardson

What I liked about this pattern:

• Pretty quick and reasonably straight forward so would agree with the pattern difficulty level being classed as easy.
• I didn’t really have to make any fit adjustments. Using stretch fabric is more forgiving in this respect I think. However, I don’t think the bust dart is in quite the right place, but it is too noticeable with the black fabric. And having worn it a couple of times now I do think I might have to widen the shoulders slightly as I don’t think they’re sitting quite right.
• There was no faffing around with zips or buttons.

What I didn’t like:

• The instructions are not as linear as I would like. Step 1, for example, states that the hems should be finished with a twin needle, but it didn’t really specify whether you needed to do all the hems at the start or not. The top panel certainly needed hemming before sewing the seams. So you need to read the pattern through at least once before you start, which I guess is good practice anyway. Because of this I don’t think I did things in the exact order of the pattern.

Would I make this pattern again?:

• Yes, definitely. I think I could make it quicker a second time round. The dress is very comfy and I can picture it in some different colours.