Readers,

We are about to enter week 6 of Lockdown life here in the UK. Never has the phrase “unprecedented times” been used so much, and that applies to my sewing! I never thought I would find myself sewing loungewear, but that is exactly what I have sewn. And not just for myself, but for my 11 year old daughter too.

Let me start at the beginning. After making my animal print sweatshirt with star motif I decided I wanted to extend my casual wardrobe a little further and ordered some of this looped back organic cotton sweatshirt fabric from Fabworks in the colour way sand. I proceeded to make myself a sweatshirt based on Simplicity 8982, but modified to have puffed sleeves.

Once lockdown started in earnest, I decided I would make a couple of pairs of jogger bottoms to wear and ordered some more of the same fabric (one in the dove grey colourway), at which point my daughter decided she also wanted a matching loungewear set in the sand colour.

Now I have a true confession to make. Long time readers will know how much I love Fabworks fabrics. I have used many different types over the years. However, at least with this sand coloured fabric, the seams don’t seem to be holding up that well. Initially I sewed my sweatshirt up mainly on my overlocker, but the fabric seemed to be straining at the seams – not particularly in tight fitting areas. For the joggers, I double stitched the seams on my machine and then finished the seams on my overlocker (4 thread), and the same thing seems to be happening. I really don’t know why. Nothing has ripped, but these outfits have been on heavy rotation since being made and I will be interested to see how long they last (especially my daughters with all the gymnastic moves that she does!) I wanted to be honest about my experience with this fabric, and would love to hear from anyone else who makes something with it! So far I haven’t worn the grey joggers that much, but haven’t noticed the same thing happening. Yet!

I am going to add some brief notes down below on what patterns I used and what modifications I made. I think I actually prefer the grey with the animal print sweatshirt, just because I did a bit of a full thigh adjustment on the grey version so I think they fit a tad better.

Patterns Used/ Fitting Notes for Me

• Joggers were made using Simplicity 1187, View C
• I cut a size XL, tapering to a size XS at the ankle, but cut the length at the size M line
• I cut a size XS for the ankle cuff and still took about 1 inch further out of the cuff width
• I omitted the waistband and directly overlocked my 1″ wide elastic to the top of the joggers, folding down and stitching in place
• I eliminated the fly extension
• 0.5 inch full bum adjustment (plus added 0.25 inch to the back rise at the top)
• 0.5 inch full tummy adjustment
• Shortened length by 0.5 inches
• Added in seam pockets
• For the grey pair only; I did a 0.5 inch full inner thigh adjustment on the front piece
• Sweatshirt was made using Simplicity 8982, view B
• See previous post for fit details.
• In addition to the previous fit adjustments, on this version I did a 1 inch full arm adjustment
• I shortened the sleeve by 2 inches
• I slashed and spread the sleeve cap into 6 sections, taking it down to 1 inch from the bottom of the sleeve and spread the sections 2.5 cm apart. I also added 2 cm to the height of the cap. In retrospect I wish I had added a bit more height
• I shortened the neck band by 1 inch
• I added hem bands
• I added 4 cm extra width to the back side seams from under the arm and 3 cm to the front

Patterns Used/ Fitting Notes for Kezia

• Joggers were made using Simplicity 1187, View C
• Straight size XS with 0.5 added to back rise at top
• Attached elastic same way as described for me, and eliminated fly
• Made ankle cuff 1 inch smaller than XS size
• Sweatshirt was made using Simplicity 8529, view D
• Omitted lower band and left a raw finish for the hem
• Added applique star to front (see here for details of how I did mine)

How about you? Has lockdown got you sewing things you wouldn’t normally? Whether you are sewing to keep your mind occupied, or whether you are sewing to support our key workers making scrubs or even face masks I hope you are keeping safe and well.

Until soon.